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

By: squigglesquared
folder Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Snape
Rating: Adult ++
Chapters: 17
Views: 3,246
Reviews: 7
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Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe and I make no money from the writing of this tale
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15

More controversy, only this time a little hot voyeurism! Whew! Steamy!

More of Sam's backstory too.

Enjoy and please review or leave stars.

The Squig xx

15

Hermione was sitting on the fold-down stool in the shower. She had removed her dressings to have a much needed wash and had to slump back down onto the small seat. As she did so a small piece of tile landed at her feet and sound washed over her, the sounds of the shower next door, just beyond the wall against which she leant. She picked up the fragment of ceramic that had fallen into her shower tray and sought from whence it had come and saw the gap in the pristine wall, a small corner of tile that revealed..... A hole leading next door.

She became aware of the sounds as she poked the tip of her pinkie into the hole then withdrawing it, she set her eye to it and got the shock of her life. Through the small hole she glimpsed: the tan-pink head of a cock, a very erect cock mere centimetres from her face. She sat back a moment digesting this. This had to lead into the boys’ bathroom. Which meant only one thing. The cock she saw had to belong to one of her friends or the other. Cautiously, she set her eye back against the small hole in the wall and peered through. Yes, the cockhead was still there, fuller than ever and leaking white fluid, a hand pumping it accompanied with moans and entreaties.

“Harry, oh Merlin, harder, fuck me, take me, oh oh, ohhhh, yes, like that”, a strangled and throaty sound. She sat back not quite believing what she was seeing. The head of Severus’ cock poking at the wall of the shower being frigged from behind. She would have bet a galleon to a knut that the hand was Harry’s. She could hear everything now there was a breech in their silencing charm. It only worked on whole walls and this one was not for whatever reason although the boys seemed blissfully unaware as they continued their game with each other.

She put her eye back to the hole in the wall, fascinated now. She felt such a voyeur watching them and them completely unaware. It was turning her on beyond measure, lousy as she felt. She kept her eye firmly in place even while her legs spread and her fingers did the walking between her legs. She watched as the hand sped up as the hips with that magnificent organ attached twitched forward and back in time to something that she couldn’t quite see but was now certain was Harry fucking Severus from behind, using his right hand to pump Severus in time with his thrusts. She watched, fascinated, as the cock reddened then jerked spasmodically, jetting jism forward forcefully, against the wall and, unbeknownst to it’s owner, through it. She felt a splash of heat on her face before she realised that Severus Potter-Snape had just come partially in her face.

She sat back away from the hole, her face burning and a few drops of come liquifying on her cheek slipping down into her mouth. She licked instinctively tasting the white fluid. As her tongue tasted, she came silently and forcefully, the flavour of her ex-teacher strong and bittersweet in her mouth. Using her cunty fingers she scooped the rest into her mouth as she cleaned her face, the taste of him and her strong and pungent on her tongue. She peeked through the hole again. It was dark with body pressed against the wall. She could just make out a dark thatch of hair and the curve of softening cock. She could hear the groans fading and the rapid breaths easing and a voice, “Fuck, Harry, that was so good. I love it when you fuck me”. There was movement next door and she watched as the body pressed against the tiles moved back and she could see more. She heard a faint slurping sound, must be Harry withdrawing from his lover’s body, then she saw an arse turned toward her slightly, the cheeks firm and full dusted with dark hair at the base, then she heard the unmistakeable sounds of wet kisses that went on for ages. She carried on peeking feeling like a total pervert. She saw the whole thing in profile, the light from their bathroom window silhouetting them for her delight and edification before they took up flannels or sponges and cleaned each other gently murmuring words of everlasting love.

After that, she wondered how she could face them. She could feel another king-size crush coming on despite her maturity and years and could sense herself reddening, confirmed when she peeked in the mirror above the sink, she was bright pink. She shook slightly from her recent orgasm and the show that had prompted it. Oh, Merlin. Why did she do this? Her thoughts whirled. She dried off and applied fresh dressings to her wound-sites, stuck a new pad in her pants and dressed before laying back on the bed.

At least the nausea of the last few days had gone. She had been assured by the doctor in charge of her termination that she was only a very few weeks along. She had had to lie to these good people, telling them she was the daughter of a Catholic Archbishop well known in her own country and they had accepted it gently reassuring her that here they didn’t judge and that a woman’s body was her own although if she was religiously inclined, then she may wish to seek counselling from someone she could trust in her own diocese. She had bowed her head and nodded sagely before being handed the necessary papers to sign and handing over her plastic, paying a hefty sum for the privilege.

She stared at the ceiling trying to find answers and coming up empty. Well, nothing for it, she was going to have to rely on Gryffindor guts and courage. It had never failed her yet. She carefully cleared her mind of the mornings viewing. It certainly would not do for Severus to ‘read’ her. Since her training had made her a fairly successful Occlumens, she could school herself to neutrality but she knew that if Severus suspected a thing, then her Occlusion would serve as nought, the man was a powerful Legilimens after all and could probably shred her defences like cobweb if he so chose, she wasn’t as worried about Harry per se, but she would have to be careful. Still, being a foremost Auror with the Department of Mysteries had taught her a lot about secret-keeping, so, no moony-eyed glances at her former teacher for a start. As always, when in doubt, keep busy, and with that resolution in the forefront of her mind, she brushed her unruly hair, twisted it into a knot on the back of her head and set off to find some breakfast.

There was no-one in the kitchen so she set a kettle to boiling and the percolator to making coffee. She knew her hosts were coffee people and she was a tea person so she made both. She heard voices in the garden and opened the door off the kitchen and stepped out, a mug warming her hands. She smiled to see Sammy playing ‘fetch’ with the replica of his father’s Animagus form. Secretly she had tried a finite incantatem on the dog as the resemblance to ‘Snuffles’ was just so strong but Paddy remained Paddy, no trapped-in-Animagus human resided within, he was just a big bouncy dog.

She had an idea of what they might do today if their hosts were willing and it would certainly keep her mind off things. She was vaguely aware of sounds in the room behind her and ignored them continuing to chuckle at the antics of man and dog until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and she spun round nearly spilling tea all down herself to find herself face to face with Severus, “Oh, you startled me”, she was flustered, “Sorry, I was miles away”, she smiled tentatively.

He held out a bottle of pain potion, “Are you in need?”, he asked softly. She tried to control the shiver at the sound of his voice, “Thank you, yes. I feel like I’ve taken a bludger to the middle, inside and out”, she took the small bottle from him and their fingers brushed. She nearly dropped the thing, ‘Oh, great, Hermione, you stupid sod, get a grip’, she admonished herself. The man regarded her solemnly, “Come inside. It’s not too warm today. You’re all but shivering out here”, he turned and she followed. Harry was busy at the stove preparing scrambled eggs for everybody and she was glad she wasn’t on her own with his husband. Forcing down a blush at the recent memories assailing her, she smiled brightly at Harry and wished him good morning.

Eventually the five of them sat down for their meal and Sammy quizzed his guests as to the next bit of his training and was quite surprised at Hermione’s first question, “How far is it from here to Auckland?” This made Sammy sit up straight, “Erm, no idea. About 650 kilometres give or take”. Hermione rolled her eyes, “Sorry we’re not quite on metric lengths yet. Miles?” Sammy shrugged but she knotted her brow, “Hmm, let me see, erm, take that from this and multiply...or is that divide? Oh, for the sake of argument, say 400 miles. Hmm, a bit much to drive there and back in a day”, she frowned again. Harry asked, “Why do you ask?” Hermione’s face cleared, “Oh, some research I did after I spoke to you at the rally. It appears there’s a couple of wizarding shops in Auckland and I’d like to see if you can see them or the magical bits at any rate and it’ll make for a fun day out but I’m not sure I can hack all that driving feeling like this”.

Jed spoke up, “I know Auckland really well, I went to school there as a kid. What streets are these shops on?” She named them and Jed shrugged, “Never realised they were magic or anything”. She grinned, “Well, as a non-magical you wouldn’t but could you take us to there if you thought hard about it, say to a deserted area just outside the city. I have the authority to create portkeys and if you know where you are going then your mind can direct us all there”. Jed held his hands up, “Whoa, no idea what you’re talking about”, and she explained about portkeys, “They can only be tuned to a particular address and only between there and your starting place, like a return ticket for a route that you cannot deviate from, perhaps a named hill or beach nearby, something like that”. Jed thought hard, “There’s this fab black sand beach that we used to cut school and go to as kids a shortish bus ride out of the city. It’s not far and it’ll be quiet at this time of year as the main tourist season is over now. Is that the sort of place you meant?”

Hermione grinned, “Sounds ideal and I’ve never seen a black sand beach before. Volcanic sand, yes?” Jed nodded, “Yup, N Zee’s full of ‘em and the bus was pretty regular as I recall, a normal service bus not a seasonal thing”. “Perfect”, she exclaimed. “Sammy, your lesson for today will be magical location recognition and we get to see a bit of the country at the same time without all the tiresome driving which would drain me the way I’m feeling at the moment. Severus, do you have any anti-nausea potions? Only the journey can be a bit unsettling on delicate tummies”. Severus smirked, “Spoken like a true parent. Yes, I have as a matter of fact. I thought I may get travel sick in a van, so I took the precaution of brewing plenty the first time we left England and I’ve never had to use them and I still have them stashed in the bowels of Bessie, certainly enough for this trip and back at any rate”.

So it was decided. After breakfast they all donned sturdy clothes and walking boots. Harry and Severus packed their daybags with waterproofs and other essentials while Hermione created them a portkey from a watch that was due to activate within half an hour and they all stood in the garden ready. Harry cast a charm over them all so any nosy neighbours would not notice as five people simply vanished.

Hermione organised them so the four wizards surrounded Jed on all sides. “Now Jed, You have to tell us the name of this beach with the correct pronunciation otherwise we may end up on Mars or something”, she quipped to watch the man pale slightly, “She’s only joking”, said Harry with a quick smile, “We can’t get to Mars but we may end up somewhere strange otherwise”. At the point of activation, Jed spoke the name clearly as they all laid a hand on the watch and experienced the most bizarre pulling from behind his navel as if a hook were literally dragging him into the sky from the ground and there they were sprawling in the sand with the roar of the breakers in their ears.

Whereupon Jed and Sammy were in danger of losing their breakfasts until Severus tipped a generous measure of potion into their mouths before that could happen, “Portkey travel is so fast it can be a little unnerving. Are we in the right place?” Jed confirmed it with a smile, “Bloody hell. That’s incredible. Saved hours of driving, and, yes, we are in the right place. Look”. He pointed to the horizon where the taller buildings of the city were clearly visible. The three Brits looked down marvelling at the coarse texture and dark colour of the sand, Harry scooping up a handful of the stuff and letting it drift through his fingers. “Can we go and see a volcano while we’re here? I’d love to see one. There aren’t any in our hemisphere”.

Hermione laughed, “Yes there are. Mum and dad took me to see a dormant one on Tenerife while we were on holiday there when I was little. Come to think of it, there were black sand beaches there too, except in the tourist areas. I vaguely remember seeing this cargo ship out to sea a little way spewing white sand over the black so the tourists don’t freak out or something. It made the sand this weird dark brown colour. Mum said the white sand was shipped in, literally, from the Sahara desert”.

Jed chuckled, “I think we could do that, there’s a biggie about half a days’ drive from home. We could camp out if you like, spend a couple of days there trekking around. You guys said you hiked a lot in Spain and Greece?” Harry nodded, “Sounds like fun, we’ll take Bessie, spend a few days, take the dog”.

They scrambled off the deserted beach , through the raggedy dunes and up onto the road and started walking, “Now, if I recall.... Ah, yes, look, the bus stop”, they made their way to it, Jed recounting tales from his misspent youth smoking weed and smuggling beer out in his schoolbag with his friends and lighting fires on the beach and toasting anything remotely toastable to eat. “Ah, those were the days”, he remembered fondly. They passed half an hour like this until the bus hove into view. They paid a for a return trip and sat back to enjoy the view.

They were in Auckland within minutes and leapt off the bus eagerly, the three Brits looking all around them at this clean bright modern city. They found a nice-looking cafe and went in ordering pastries and coffee for elevenses. Hermione was glad that her appetite was back to normal at long last. Before they went in, Jed bought a street map from a news vendor and they spread it out over the table.

They located the two streets they were looking for and marked them. They were a bit of a walk away from each other but this would give them the excuse for a look around at the same time. Hermione called them all to huddle closer, “Right, before we go into either of these establishments, I suggest that I cast glamours on the four of us magicals. Harry is recognised all over the magical world as is Severus although I doubt anyone would look at me twice but you, Sammy, look too much like the Malfoys and it might be a good idea if we darken your hair a bit to throw the scent off. I know one of these shops is a distribution point for the British wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet, which, I believe, also does a weekly edition for export to ex-pats all over the world. If you wish to subscribe, Sammy, I suggest you use Samuels rather than Black. Remember you are conspicuous in our world and the name of Black may set off all kinds of alarms and for now I suggest you remain incognito, certainly until you have received more in-depth training”.

He couldn’t help but agree to this as a wise move and said so. Harry grinned, “Hermione always was the brains of the outfit”, to receive a light whack on the arm from the woman in question, “Well, I saved your arse plenty of times in the past, matey”. Harry whacked her back, “I know, smarty-pants. So, should I go redhead this time?”, to ribald suggestions from around the table, “Oh, definitely not, Harry. I refuse to look like I am married to a Weasley”, rejoined Severus with a smirk.

They found the first shop with no difficulty in a small side street. Hermione led them to a space between two shops and cast glamours over three of them making Sammy’s hair sandy-brown, Severus’ face plumper with a less prominent nose and Harry’s eyes brown with mousy tidy hair and a charm to hide his scar and change the shape of his glasses. She remarked as she did Sammy, “You know, it occurs to me that you may even be able to do this yourself, Sammy. After all one of your many cousins is a Metamorphmagus, she can change her appearance at will. She grew up in the punk era and is always sporting spiky hair in a range of bizarre colourways. She doesn’t do the Animagus thing but shape-changing is a definite feature of the Black bloodline”.

Jed was somewhat astounded at the changes in them even while he realised the necessity of their caution and to this end, Hermione had refrained from making too drastic changes to his lover just enough so he wouldn’t automatically be linked to Blacks or Malfoys with that unmistakeable white-blond hair. On second thoughts, she deepened his eye colour to a darker grey. “You’ll do”, she remarked as she stepped back and admired her handiwork fishing out a small mirror from her bag and letting them all look at themselves so Sammy wouldn’t freak at the changes in his appearance.

They entered the small dark shop that ostensibly sold rather old and dusty souvenirs. To the Brits this was obviously a cover to keep away unwary muggles who would see the rather poor state of the merchandise and move on to somewhere brighter and less dusty. The shopkeeper looked up from his newspaper as they entered and glowered at them, thinking them muggles and was prepared to be rather short with them until Severus approached him and sotto voce enquired if this was the correct place to obtain the Daily Prophet as he was British and missing the news from home. The man brightened considerably at this and was a lot more polite and deferential, “Of course sir. Come with me”.

He pulled out a wand from behind the counter and spelled the door locked and the sign turned itself around on the shop door from ‘open’ to ‘gone to lunch’. He then waved his wand at the wall at the back of the shop and an arched opening appeared in it, revealing the inner depths of the establishment to be many times the size of the front part of the shop. “And how may I help a witch and wizards so far from home? Are you enjoying your stay here in this fair land?” Harry nodded enthusiastically, “Oh, yes. It’s a very beautiful country. We are touring at present and are visiting friends here”, he indicated Jed and Sammy who stepped up and enquired as to whether he could perhaps purchase a subscription to said newspaper. The man smiled at him, “Of course, sir. As to the payment, we accept all major credit cards which we convert at Gringott’s in London and once it has cleared then we start your subscription, if that is agreeable to you. Of course, we also take wizarding or muggle currency, in which case the subscription starts immediately, the choice is yours”.

They hadn’t thought of this and Sammy frowned, of course his card was in his full name. “Could I pay cash and have it delivered by post under protective wrapping? Don’t want to upset the wife, don’t you know?, he leaned forward conspiratorially. “I take it you are able to deliver by the regular mail? I can’t have these owls all around. I’m sure you understand”. There was a silence for a moment. Hermione struggled not to raise her eyebrows and all three wizards were nearly heard to be thinking, ‘Quick thinking there’. The man smiled a smile full of rotten teeth, “Young man, your money’s good here and we assure discretion. If you could fill this form out for me, your subscription will begin immediately. I have the latest edition that you can take today”.

Sammy was only slightly taken aback when presented with parchment and quill but managed to chicken-scratch his name and address at the office before signing the thing. A wave of the man’s wand and a duplicate was rolled and pressed into his hand before the man turned and went into the back room behind the main shop. “I’ll just be a moment, Mr Samuels”. Hermione whispered, “Quick thinking, let me shrink that for you but still hold it with your wand over it as if you did it”. He nodded at her, slightly flushed at the approval in her voice as the shopkeeper re-emerged from the back room clutching the latest edition.

“Will there be anything else, sirs or madam?” Severus had been nosing in a darkly shadowed cabinet on one wall, “May I enquire as to the age of these ingredients, please?” The man bustled over and opened the door of the tall cupboard that was tightly packed with jars of potion supplies, “Well, to be honest some things don’t keep so well, so I have ‘em in the fridge out back, but I keep the longer lasting and less volatile things in here. What do you require? Bit of a brewer are you? There’s not many do that out here. I hear it’s much more popular in the Old Country. They teach potion making properly over there”, he sighed, “There’s not much call beyond the ingredients for pain or hangover potions if you take my meaning”, he tapped the side of his nose, “There’s one or two that have me order stuff from the darker side of the London magical street, so to speak. I get the occasional request for the older aphrodisiac herbs, that sort of thing, don’t you know”, he winked conspiratorially.

Severus drew out a few of the jars opening the lids and sniffing. They weren’t the best ingredients but the preserving charm on them was good and they were in good condition still so he requested drachmes of this and grammes of that, a gill of the other and an ounce of the better quality oojamaflip, enough to give Sammy a taster course in brewing.

Harry, meanwhile, was wandering around. There was a small pile of dusty pensieves that looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, a small pile of cauldrons of assorted sizes piled higgledy piggledy plus shelves and cabinets stuffed to the gills with all manner of gewgaws and magical whassisnames. On a low shelf, Harry pointed out a dusty selection of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes alongside a selection of Honeydukes own brand sweeties of varying types. He picked out five chocolate frogs and a selection of others that he had the shopkeeper bag up.

Hermione grinned when she saw the perfect gift for her hosts to thank them for putting up with her at such short notice and being so gracious about it. She called the man over and asked him to wrap it in secret without letting the others in the shop know, “It’s a surprise”, she whispered and she and the manager shared a grin as she slipped him plenty of wizarding cash for the item and then asked if the man had any back issues of the Prophet, “Just the last two weeks”, the man nodded and, having retrieved them, threw them in for free.

They bid the man good day and left his shop. “Well, Sammy, I can do a little brewing with you after all. I have most of the ingredients here for the perfect lubricant, the rest are to be found in your own garden. If you wish, we will do that tomorrow”. Sammy and Jed were still amazed by the strange shop. Jed asked, “How come I could see everything? I thought that non-magicals weren’t supposed to be privy to that?” Hermione smiled at him, “I made sure you could. It’s just a low-level charm. I’ll lift it now. If you went back in now, I’m afraid, you would only see the souvenirs. It’s one I developed in my first year with the help of my Charms professor at the time. I wanted mum and dad, two complete muggles, to be able to accompany me to Diagon Alley in London. It was a bit scary going on my own and I wanted them to see a bit of my world. This is one I’ll teach Sammy as we go on with lessons. I’m sure you want Jed to be as much a part of this as he can be, don’t you?”

Sammy grinned, “’Course I do”. Hermione thrust the parcel she held into Jed’s hands, “Here you are, a little prezzie to say ‘thanks for having me’”. Jed peered cautiously into the paper sack in his arms and pulled out the strangest clock he had ever seen. It was a wizarding clock and instead of the usual hours, it showed the usual phrases around the dial, just like the Weasley’s, ‘At work’, ‘Travelling’, ‘In Mortal Peril’ etc. Hermione grinned broadly, “I’ll spell your pictures to the hands when we get back and then you always know where the other is at a glance. Sammy I’ll place the tracking spell that makes this work on your wand and Jed, do you wear that chain round your neck all the time?” Jed said, “Yes, Sammy bought it for me on our first anniversary and it has never been off ever since”. “Then I’ll spell the charm to that then. That’s how the clock knows where you are. It’s a complicated spell and it takes a few hours to work but that’s all part of the prezzie. We’ll sort it all out when we get back to the house. Come on, I want to lift the glamours. It’s weird having you all look so different”. They stepped into another gap between the shops and emerged, seconds later, back to themselves again after quick furtive kisses between the partners that made Hermione roll her eyes, “Why is it that only gay men are romantics?”, she quizzed, a slightly lost look in her eyes.

Lunch was next on the agenda and after such an exhausting(!) morning; they decided on seafood and indulged themselves thoroughly sharing several crabs and a lobster or two along with a couple of bottles of the local dry white wine. Thus fortified they set to wandering again, staggering slightly as they tipped back into the street, squinting at the bright light of day, consulting the map and getting lost a couple of times which at one point served to bring them to the most interesting shopping street. The one with the funky small shops bearing wares made by local craftspersons. They dropped serious dollars that afternoon on clothes and exotic fabrics for Hermione to take home with her, all shrunk to fit into her bottomless handbag.

Flush with a good shop under her belt, they sought out the next magical location, easily spotted by the slightly faded old-fashioned style of the frontage, again cleverly devised to put the average tourist or curiosity seeker off, the nasty looking artifacts in the window, the grinning shrunken heads that succeeded in casting an air of menace around the premises. Severus read ‘Darkness’ all around this place but they all went in nonetheless. Sammy could see everything as Hermione knew he would be able to but it took casting the charm again for Jed to see. She watched his face change as he viewed the bizarre artefacts for sale.

Shrivelled hands in glass cases, weird moving wizarding porn of all persuasions, dark objects of all kinds. Scrying mirrors that could be tuned to the innermost thoughts of the intended victim on the other end and used to all kinds of nefarious ends to bind an unwilling lover to oneself, dark potions meant to either dull the senses or ensnare, devious assists to aphrodisiac Charms, magical chains and ropes, to bind and hold, against the wall, or a door, any flat surface at any angle. This magic was dark, Sammy could sense it in his nostrils as he sniffed out the dark odours redolent in the place and he shook in his fear.

Harry sensed it and turned to him, trying to reassure where he could but could sense the man’s fascination with this seediness. “Your dark side calls you”, he whispered in a tone that made the newly brunet man shiver. “You know your bloodline is essentially dark?” Sammy nodded, unable to help himself as he handled one dark artefact after another. Severus relieved him of the skeleton of a werewolf, shrunk to ornamental proportions, “No, you do not need to purchase this, Sammy. This is the power you need to try and resist. This is the power that your father rejected. The power that makes you hard to think about it. The power that makes you one of them. The dark wizards, the Dark Lords. It flows in your veins, it floods your soul and you have no resistance to it. Not yet. This is why you need tuition, to know how to battle this addictive force. The dark side has it’s own attractions and I have been drawn to them in the past. I know the lures, the machinations and you do not. Learn from us, how to fight it, how to subdue it”.

Sammy put the skeleton down carefully, “I know not what I do. I am but an innocent let loose in a world that I do not understand”. Hermione was by his side, an arm around his waist, “That is why we aim to teach you a bit of what we know, so you will understand, so you are able to make the choices that you must, as a Black and as a magical. Keep grounded as only Jed can ground you. Believe in your affinity to the light even while the pull of your blood is towards the Dark. Sirius did and it got him disinherited but, ultimately, he died a free soul, he was still his own man even while he died”. Sammy turned to her and squeezed her, “Oh, and that’s supposed to be a comfort, is it? Thanks a bunch”, and then he laughed. “I think I’ve seen all I need to for one afternoon, thanks a lot”. They exited the strange place without making any purchases, Hermione taking off the glamours after they had emerged into the sunlight again.

She consulted the clock on her phone. “Sorry to spoil a nice afternoon chaps, but we need to be back in the portkey location in an hour and we need to think about heading back to that beach again if we are not to miss it. We’ll have to catch the bus and so on”, she reminded them. They reluctantly acceded to this and wandered in the direction of the bus station.

Contrary to their ideas of British transport systems, these buses were religiously on time and the machine glided slowly from it’s bay to take them back, the picture of quiet efficiency. Severus swallowed a smile. Having only ever been used to the ‘English’ way of general ineptitude in all things muggle, he was secretly finding a delight in muggle technology that did exactly what it said on the tin, albeit he had had to come to the other side of the planet to find it. The muggles were too damn smart with the technology to all be dunderheads when it came to the delivery. He sighed bitterly as he realised that this was probably a peculiarly British trait despite the fact that they had been responsible for a large part in the construction of it. He knew from Harry’s odd reflections that British muggles were responsible for the building of the majority of the satellites that currently orbited the earth being able to build smaller and neater than the richest nation on the planet. For himself, he mused, they just messed up his viewing of the stars, particularly in the middle of nowhere where you could see the most of the night sky, and he found that the measured progress of the satellites to be a bit of a pain when he was viewing the vastness of space, crossing his vision with nauseating regularity, but then he remembered, with a pang, the many conversations that he and Harry had had with Hermione across the globe and that these regular travellers across his sky view were what made that happen, not to mention the travelogues that they had regularly sent from Europe and the extended edition that sat, awaiting Hermione’s attention back in England.

They were a bit early arriving back on the beach. They had nearly three-quarters of an hour to spare, so Harry kicked off his shoes, rolled up his trousers and waded out into the sea, a look of bliss on his face as the water splashed around his knees. On an impulse he waded back to the beach, stripped down to his boxers and plunged into the briny water with a whoop of delight, lying back on the salty water’s surface, being easily borne.

Hermione was next. She didn’t strip or come in higher then her lower thighs due to her recent surgery, but she felt the water buoy her as it surged in and out on the incoming tide and she howled with delight as the water lifted her feet momentarily with each push inland.

Jed knew this beach and was down to his skivvies in seconds before executing a graceful dive into the advancing sea, swimming strongly against the tide. Severus saw this and followed on, loving the idea of swimming as fast as you could but getting nowhere, a pure strengthening exercise but he did manage to make considerable headway against the tide, swimming further out until he felt the ‘drop-off’ under his feet and knew he was in deep water then with grace and style swam back and to until Harry hailed him from the shore, “Sev, the time for the portkey is nearly here. I know you’re enjoying it, but we need to get back”. Severus was spelled dry and dressed in approximately two seconds, standing with the others, their hands on the portkey before they were once again on the lawn of the house.

In a heap.

Severus tutted as he disentangled himself but Harry held on to him making their eyes meet. Severus was jelly as he gazed into those deep green depths. They vaguely felt Jed, Sammy and Hermione move away before Harry rolled against Severus and clutched him with eager arms, kissing him soundly and deep, all tongues. As they came up for air, Harry murmured, “Wanted to do that all day. I can’t resist you”, into Severus’ ear.

In a circle of two, Severus regarded his husband, quite unable to keep his emotions from his face, not that he wanted to. There was a voice nagging at the back of his mind, that he should be a detached soul, that he shouldn’t meld in quite this way with another, but he silenced it by kissing his beloved, he was married to the man, and he loved him beyond reason. All this he tried to convey in the kiss. Harry seemed to get it. There was a slight nudge felt in both of their minds at that moment, not so much minds joining as souls, as they both let each other in to their minds, a giving and taking. An appreciation of how much they loved each other, the look into each other’s eyes so intense.

There was no weird light, no crackle of unaccustomed magic, but they both knew....

That in that moment, they had made a soul bond. And it was forever. And they both revelled in this knowledge.

There was a shy touching of foreheads, the feeling enough to make them squirm. Against the joining of magic. Against each other. There was an instinctive resistance to this ultimate joining much like an eye closing when something gets too close. But they fought this. And they let it in, and loved it. And each other.

Severus gulped nervously as he grasped Harry’s hand as the feeling washed over them both, to feel Harry grasping back and holding on. “What just happened?”, they both asked simultaneously, then laughed at the expressions on each other’s faces. Severus ventured, his eyes swimming, “Harry, I think we just made a soul-bond. In the middle of a garden. Twelve or more thousand miles from Britain. With good friends to witness it. It is more magically precious than marriage in the mundane sense. It means that we are everything to each other, and I mean everything. Body, mind and soul. I am yours, Mrs Snape. And you are truly mine”

Harry nodded, pressing his head against Severus’ chest. He was shaking now, unable to stop the storm that threatened to erupt in his heart. He felt fit to burst and held on tighter. Dimly they were aware of a voice asking if they were all right but tuned it out. They vaguely heard Hermione gently hushing their hosts, “Let’s leave them a moment, it’s something truly magical. They may explain, they may not but unfortunately it’s not for me to say. It’s just a very powerful moment for them both. I’m surprised it’s taken this long to be honest, maybe they were fighting it......”, her voice trailed away. With the closing of the door to the house, they knew they were on their own.

“I can’t stop shaking”, whispered Harry. Severus kissed him tenderly, “You’re not the only one, love. And Hermione is right. What took us so long?”

Harry was thoughtful as he looked deep into the darkness of the eyes he loved so much, “I think we’ve both moved on now. I think I’ve finally laid Drae to rest in my heart and you, Remus. Whatever we were before is over and now it’s really us, just us. Does that make any sense?”

Severus nodded and smiled with lips and eyes, even while said orbs shed tears, “Yes”, he whispered. “In all of my life, I never dreamed that such a thing would come to pass. Many love and are loved in return but a true soul-bond is rare. I feel doubly blessed, Harry, and to think, it happened on our honeymoon. Apposite, wouldn’t you say?” Harry kissed him, his own eyes wet. “I must admit, I know very little of such things and such as this was never taught at school”, he smirked. “What does it all mean?” Severus couldn’t tear his gaze from Harry even if he had wished to, “I also know very little of such matters. I don’t doubt that there was something in the library at Hogwarts that may have told us but at the time, I was more than content to just be loved. I was just....grateful... to finally have love in my life where there had been hatred, or at the very least, indifference, and now this, here, with you. I finally am......completed... and I never thought....oh, my Harry”.

There was nothing left to say, so they spoke with lips and hands and tongues, ignoring all around them. They didn’t hear the slam of a car door, were completely oblivious to the shout of “Yoo-Hoo” at the front of the house. They only came up for air when a loud female voice that neither of them recognised said rather stridently, “Did you know you have two men snogging on your lawn?”

This made them both sit up hair all mussed and faces red. Harry’s voice was low as he stroked Severus’ hair back into place, “It would seem that our hosts have a visitor. Perhaps we should go indoors and cease being so anti-social”, he planted a light peck on his husband’s nose. Severus hummed, “All right but I don’t want to be very far from you”. Harry grinned as he remembered the same sentiment from his wedding day, “So don’t be. Come on”, he quickly rose and held a hand out for Severus.

Arms around each other, they sauntered back to the house to hear, “Oh, English, how nice to meet you dear” drifting out. They climbed the stairs and entered the main room. Sammy shot them a significant look and a quick glance around warned them that all things magical were well out of the way. Harry nodded barely perceptibly back showing their understanding before Sammy’s face brightened, “Here’s some more British folk, mum, meet Harry and Severus. We met them at the rally and they and Hermione are staying for a while. We all got on so well. Lucky you came round when you did, we’ve just got back from Auckland”.

Harry stepped up to shake the woman’s hand, “Hello, I’m Harry and this is my husband, Severus”. She smiled at them both before shaking Severus’ hand, too. “Odd name, ‘Severus’. Latin isn’t it? I gave my son Latin names. Hmmmm, heard it before somewhere, though I’m danged if I know where. Pleased to meet you, I’m Adele. Married hmmmm? Very interesting. How long if I may ask?” Harry laughed, “You may. As a matter of fact, Severus and I are on an extended honeymoon although we’ve only been wed less than a month”.

The woman gathered him to her in a hug, “Oh, congratulations. You should talk to my Xav here, I’ve been wanting to have him settle down for years”. ‘Xav’ rolled his eyes behind his mother’s back and Harry tried not to laugh out loud, “You haven’t told her yet?”, he mouthed silently. Sammy shook his head. Harry untangled himself from the strong grip of the diminutive woman who went on to try and embrace Severus but when she caught sight of his scowl, desisted, just clasped one of his hands between hers for a moment.

Sammy groaned, “Mum, Jed and I have been living together for seven and a half years. That’s got to be pretty settled”. The woman threw up her hands, “Now come on, Xavier, every mother likes to see a good wedding, even though I was denied one of my own, that good-for-nothing father of yours ruddy abandoning me like that with ten grand and without a by-your-leave. I’d love for you and Jed to do the right thing by each other”. He rolled his eyes at her then moved forward to take her coat, “Come on, mum, let’s go into the kitchen and I’ll put the kettle on for you. I’ve bought more of that bloody disgusting paint-stripper you call tea....”, their voices faded as they left the room. Jed grinned, “I’d better go and back him up, it’s probably time to tell my ‘mother-in-law’”, he said, making quotation marks in the air and then the three magicals were alone in the lounge. To give them a little more privacy, they stepped out onto the balcony and chatted amongst themselves.

A shriek a few moments later made them all look round. Adele had clearly just been told. Hermione rolled her eyes, “And how much of a hand did you have in this, Harry?” Harry pretended to whistle and look innocent, “Well, on the first day we knew them, Sammy asked me a few things and I told him, simple really”. This made her laugh, “So what happened out there, you know, before?”, she cocked her head at the garden.

Severus slipped his arms around Harry from behind resting his chin on Harry’s shoulder, “We aren’t certain, but we think there may have been a bond of some sort made. I meant to ask you, would you happen to know if there is material at Hogwarts on this matter?”, he kissed Harry’s neck and Harry, smiling slowly, leaned back into the touch. Hermione tried not to drool as she watched. Gods, Severus was such a sensualist. Who knew that he could be this demonstrative, he never had been with Remus, not even held hands under the pub table. Harry had really changed him. She snapped out of that line of thought, “I don’t know, but I’ll firecall Ginny later when the coast is clear”. They could say no more as Adele came barrelling out of the French window, “Well, Harry, it appears I have you to thank for giving my boy such a good impression of marriage. It makes my old heart proud to see him finally settled”.

Harry lifted his head but didn’t break the embrace, “Well, I am enjoying it so far, but it’s early days yet”, to a warning squeeze from his husband. Harry glanced over his shoulder cheekily, meeting Severus’ eyes, “But if he keeps on forgetting to put his manky socks in the laundry hamper then it’s the divorce courts!”, he pecked Severus’ cheek. Severus growled at him, “Oh, I’m the slob, am I?” the exchange garnered chuckles from all around as the others had now appeared, Sammy carrying the tray and Jed following with food which was all laid out on the patio table. Adele sighed happily, “I haven’t heard the word ‘manky’ for many a long year. I’m a Yorkshire lass by birth, I miss the old country sometimes but not enough to go back, the weather’s better here anyway. England has....memories for me that I am better off not recalling”.

There was an awkward silence for a moment or two which Jed filled by pouring tea and handing out plates of sandwiches and scones before Sammy said in a low voice, “Mum.....about my father......these guys knew him....and....and he wasn’t a killer. He was pardoned.....and he was telling the truth apparently....about the aristocracy thing.....and about the ‘being hunted’ thing.....and he is dead now but he died bravely fighting in a battle against some really bad people who were trying to kill Harry here. It’s hard to explain”.

His mother puffed out her cheeks, “Typical! Fighting for someone else while his own son rots on the other side of the planet. He was a no-good bum”. Harry could see Sammy going red and could sense the anger rising from him and intervened, “Actually, Adele, Sirius Black was my godfather and my parents’ best friend, they had been friends all through school and it was events surrounding my parents’ death that he was wrongly imprisoned for. The real culprit was found. I helped to unmask him, but he ran off before he could be brought to justice. It was like..... a contract killing”, he glanced at Sammy, “Like....gangsters, that kind of thing, it’s difficult to explain...but before his death, I forgave him. Like you, I thought that he had ruined my life. I had to grow up with these horrible relatives who mistreated me and abused me, treated me as their personal slave and when I heard that he’d escaped from prison I was determined to put him back there but it wasn’t that way at all. I don’t know how much he told you about his life but if he mentioned a friend called ‘James’ then that was my father”.

She turned to him, her eyes narrowed, “Yeeesss, I vaguely remember. James. Yes, he definitely mentioned a James”, she was thinking hard, “There was a girl, too, Libby or Lillian, something like that”. Harry smiled, “Lily. That was my mother”. Adele sat back scrutinising the Englishmen, “That’s where I heard your name, too, Severus. I knew I’d heard it somewhere. It’s too unusual to forget in a hurry”. Severus held his hand up to stop her, “Indeed, I was at school with Sirius. We were contemporaries and I have to say at this point that we did not get on at all, not that we ever had, so if he mentioned me it is quite likely in some derogatory way that I would rather not hear. He and James used to bully me at school so my own memories of the man are not good. Having said that, he was exonerated of all charges but not until after he had been killed, and, foolhardy though I thought the man, he did die bravely and on the side of right”.

There was a long silence as she regarded these strangers, blinking hard, clearly fighting off tears. Finally she breathed in sharply, “That’s actually sort of good to know. Not that it makes a blind bit of difference to the way I had to scrimp and scrape at first to keep Xavier and I while he was growing up, mind, but, yes, it’s good to know that he wasn’t a complete cunt”. They all saw Sammy wince at his mother’s use of such strong language but they couldn’t blame her. Hermione cast a meaningful look Harry’s way and when she had got his attention, she mouthed, “The will”, at him. Harry nodded and turned back to Adele.

“There was a little money put aside for descendants in my previous lover’s will. A man by the name of Malfoy, to whom Sirius was related by blood, and by extension, Sammy, here. Hermione here will need to carry out a full paternity test but in time this fund could be released to yourselves. I knew nothing of this until after Draco had died and I wondered at this codicil for ages after the reading of the will, but there it is. It isn’t a fortune, but it’s a substantial chunk of change. Sirius had been disinherited from his family, the main bulk of the Black estate passed to his younger brother because Sirius refused to toe the family line, his parents were very....er...strict about bloodlines and things, almost fascistic. Nazi, if you like....and quite ruthless, they were not beyond seeking out....what they would have perceived as....taints to the bloodline, and...er....dealing with them, you know, one law for them and another for the rest of us?”

Realisation started to dawn in the older woman’s face. Fascism she understood. “So, I really was in danger?” she whispered. Harry nodded slowly, “If his family had known about you....”, he left the rest unsaid. She looked alarmed, “Could they still find us now?” Hermione said, “No, Regulus, Sirius’ brother died without issue, so to all intents and purposes, the Black line died out with him, but now we know that that is not the case. As Harry said, I will have to conduct a test to confirm all this but what I’ve seen so far makes me ninety-nine per cent certain that Sammy here is Sirius’ natural son, though I wouldn’t hold out much hope for the rest of the Black fortune. Narcissa Black, Sirius’ first cousin and Draco’s, Harry’s ex-partner’s mother is still alive and other Blacks still exist who were married out but there are no males left in that line. I very much suspect that Regulus would have willed it to the leader of his...er...gang faction....for use in furthering their cause, either that or, as he died young, it would simply have been dispersed to others via his rotten mother”.

Adele looked from one to the other of her son’s visitors, “And you say you met these folk purely by accident, Xavier?” Her son nodded, “Yup, totally. They were camped on the beach where us and the lads meet up every year and they came up to the rally with us. That van out there is theirs”. Severus could feel the waves of anxiety that rolled off the woman, “Rest assured, Adele, we were not out here to look for your son, in fact when the biker lads turned up at the beach, Harry and I thought we were in some danger. Harry reckons that most ordinary motorcycle clubs would have given us a thoroughgoing beating for being queer”.

Jed joined in, “Damn right, if that had been a bunch of straight bikers then you running off as you were preparing to do that night would definitely have been your best move”. This silenced everyone for a while until Adele spoke up again, “So you say Sirius was a rebel then?” Harry grinned, “Oh, yeah, he hated his family and what they stood for, he was a free spirit”, he glanced at his husband, “And although he showed many errors of judgement and could be a bit of a berk at times, he was no fascist, he was a good man if a bit immature and hotheaded”.

Sammy handed his mother a wad of tissues as she was crying freely by now, “Actually that’s good to know. I’m Jewish. Did Xavier tell you?” The three nodded. She continued, “So, I know about fascism at it’s worst. Our family ran from the Germans after the Anschluss in ’33 but my grandmother they couldn’t budge. She ended up in an oven in Auschwitz along with several others that the family knew. Yes, I know about fascism all right”, she sniffed.

Adele wiped at her face and apologised for her state. Severus said softly, “You have had memories raked up that perhaps you would have rather kept interred, so it is not surprising that emotions are stirred up, too. It must have seemed like Mr Black treated you shabbily, not only that but I believe you had news of his incarceration and escape and his demise. Might I enquire how you heard, if you feel able to tell me?”

Silence reigned for a moment. Jed got up to pour more tea but did it so quietly as to not break the mood, then sat back down on the wicker lounger with his lover. The lounger opposite held Harry and Severus and the two women were in wicker armchairs bolstered by cushions. Adele let her head fall back resting on the cushion behind her head, “There were letters”, she said at length, still looking up and not at the others. “I still have them. The first contained discs. Gold discs with a crest on them and a name and a date, like some sort of coins. The second had clippings from newspapers as did the third and last containing his death notice. The letters were strange”, her voice drifted as she was absently rubbing her fingertips and thumb tip together, “The paper was strange, very thick”.

Hermione ventured, “Like parchment, rather than paper”. Adele sat up, “Yes. Parchment. That’s what it was. There was no return address just a crest on it and these coins inside and the words, I am in great danger. This is all I have. Take care. And that was it” Hermione took a deep breath, “Would these discs, possibly have the name ‘Gringotts’ embossed on them?” This made Adele sit up and take notice, “Yes. Why?” Hermione shrugged delicately, “They are coins. The crest, on the parchment, could you describe it?” The woman was thoroughly puzzled but knit her brows together as she looked at her lap, her hands clutching at the arms of the chair, “Yes. It’s a shield and there’s knives or swords or something.......and dogs. There are two dogs, greyhounds or whippets standing up on their hind legs. Is this significant?”

Harry smiled, “It’s the Black family crest. Were the words Toujours Pur beneath?” She nodded at him, “I know, forever pure, gives me the willies to think of that in light of what you have told me this afternoon. What of the coins then? Are they worth anything? Are they ancient or something?” Severus winced slightly, what to tell this woman. He could tell by the stiffening of Harry’s body in his arms and the slight movement that Hermione made that answering this may be tough if they weren’t to reveal themselves as magicals.

Hermione stood up suddenly, “Sammy, may I have a quick word?”, she indicated for them to step inside. Sammy stood and followed her, excusing himself from the others. She dragged him to the far corner of the lounge and kept her voice down, “It seems like Sirius did send her more money, she has several Galleons which are a form of the wizarding cash that that shopkeeper spoke of yesterday, welcome all over the world. He’d probably charge a fee ‘cos you don’t have a branch of the bank here in New Zealand, but I bet he’d change them for you or he’d know someone who can. Now, what do you want to tell your ma about the magical stuff ‘cos we’re getting pretty close to it?”

Sammy huffed out a breath and shook his head, “I hadn’t got that far yet”, and she smiled sympathetically at him but stayed quiet, “I suppose she’ll have to know at some point. Ah, well, if it comes out, it comes out. She was always cool about me being gay and she was a bit of a hippie in her youth, she loves me no matter what. It’ll be a shock for her and she’ll most likely feel guilty that I didn’t get to go to your school as I should have, perhaps, but I think she’ll be okay with it. I trust her with my life and, except for a few years in my teens when we fought all the time, I always have”.

She smiled fully at him then. “It’s always good to see people getting on with their parents. I have a good relationship with mine though I’ve known many that were alienated from their families by their magic, Harry is a case in point, his relatives think he’s a freak but they never tried to understand”. Sammy grinned back, “Oh, I think mum will try and understand all right, though she may have a conniption or two”. Hermione chuckled, “Well, that’s in the nature of mums, I suppose. I imagine if it were one of mine coming home with a bombshell I’d react pretty much the same way”. They left their huddle and stepped back outside.

As Sammy sat, he nodded very slightly to the rest of the assembled company. They hadn’t spoken and were sipping tea when the others emerged, not knowing what to say next. Sammy’s nod caused them all to relax a bit. Severus had concentrated on ‘reading’ as much of Adele as he could without looking straight into her eyes and could sense her worry and turmoil at the things she had been told, but he could read a much-buried memory that was suddenly right at the front of her mind. He withdrew as quietly as he had intruded and she shook her head slightly, blinking hard a couple of times, ‘sorry’, he thought at her.

“So there were letters, Adele?” Severus now had a way in to the discussion that he knew was coming, “Might I ask how you received them? Through the regular post, passed by a friend, perhaps?” She shuddered and looked at him suddenly, her eyes wide, “Bloody hell”, she whispered, “It’s like you’re reading my bloody mind. How did you know that’s the bit I couldn’t understand?” Severus smiled at her, “No, dear lady, but I was curious, for if, as you say, you pretty much vanished off the face of the earth, then who would have sent the mail to you? Who knew enough about where you are, considering, of course, that you were in danger? Forgive me, I used to work in er governmental schemes, retired now, but this kind of thing still intrigues?” Harry listened to this, astonished. Severus hadn’t lost all his touch, but maybe the explanations were simple enough like a trusted family member or something.

“Well, the last two of the three, my sister posted on to me to a post office box, but it was the first one that was the oddest. It was the only one with that crest on it and the only one with anything written inside, the others just contained the clippings from the papers, you see?” They all sat forward now. It was obvious that Sammy had never heard this either.

“Well”, she gusted out shortly then pulled herself up, glancing around the faces, “No, you’re going to think I’m some crazy old lady, that I’ve lost my marbles, or as you young folk have it, ‘lost the plot’”. Hermione smiled as a light came on in her eyes, “Adele”, she began cautiously and drew the woman’s scattered attention to her, “Would this method of...er...letter delivery have involved a....erm...bird of some sort, an owl perhaps or maybe something bigger perhaps?” There was a long silence as the normally very collected woman’s mouth simply dropped open in shock.

She nodded, then whispered, “It was a huge thing, a cormorant I think, not sure, not a seagull, and the letter was tied to it’s ruddy leg. It was the damndest thing and now I know you’ll all think I’m nuts and,.......hang on......you know”. There was a tense silence. This time Adele’s glance around the group was much more calculating, “There’s more to this, isn’t there? Something I’m not getting?” Sammy nodded slowly, “Yes, mum. It explains everything. The ‘poltergeist’, the wet bed thing, the dreams about otters, all of it”. He stood and went to his mother’s chair, dropping gracefully to the floor at her feet and taking her hands in his, “Mum, I need you to keep this secret for me, but it seems I inherited more than just genes from my father”.

She gripped his hands and looked deep into his eyes, “Xavier, I have kept us a secret for many years and will continue to do so. Answer me something first if you would, my son. Has this anything to do with what that bloke from the psychical research centre said that time?”. She arched a brow slightly at her son and Severus had to refrain from smiling. She knew, on an instinctive level. She had always known.

Sammy released a breath that he didn’t realise he’d been holding, “Yes, mum. The untrained magic thing. I’m a wizard and so was my dad and I can also change into an otter or something, we haven’t really got to that yet”, he blurted.

There was a long pause while her eyes roamed over the face of her son. The rest of them stayed mute. Jed’s eyes were full of concern for his lover. Then her gaze fixed on his and her mouth began to turn up at the corners. A moment later and to his everlasting amazement, she started to laugh then leaned forward and planted a kiss on his forehead, “I always knew there was more to you somehow, something really special. I had quite a chat with that guy, Roger something, I’ve still got his card in the bureau at home, after you accused him of being nuts and stormed off, we lost two more cups that day”.

Her attention snapped back to the rest of the group, “So, then, am I to suppose that you folk are similarly disposed?” Severus nodded, “Adele, it is not a matter of disposition, quite, it is innate. A magical child is specially trained as a rule, from the age of eleven and these incidents are indeed entirely symptomatic of untrained magic leaking out especially if said wizard is angry or upset, classic case really”, he mused with a grin. Sammy flashed one back. Severus continued. “And in answer to your first point then, yes, we are all magical people and, yes, we are all fully trained and have been assisting your son with some beginner’s techniques. It takes many years to acquire a full range of skills as befits an adult wizard, however”.

She looked at her son, “You know, that chap did say to call him if I ever wanted to engage his services again, he’d be old by now, possibly retired. I have a feeling he may have been one of...er...you”. Hermione spoke up, “If you wouldn’t mind, could you ring us or something with the man’s name only if there’s anything untoward, you know, you can’t trust training to just anyone. These are special skills. I could have him....checked out at home, there are, er, registers, that kind of thing, you know”.

Sammy made a face, “She’s right. It pays to be careful”. Adele nodded sagely, “I’ll ring you as soon as I get back. Well, this is wonderful, wizardry and weddings, go on, what’s the third thing?” Hermione and Harry howled laughing. Harry explained the huge-things-coming-in-threes rule to his husband. Sammy hugged his mother, “No, I think that’s all for today. Though there’s plenty about it all that’s bloody weird, like talking through fireplaces. I still haven’t got my head round that one yet. I’ve got a wand, though and the newspapers have pictures that move”.

Adele looked suitably astonished, “Oh, yes, the other two letters that my sister sent? If it’s any help, my sister reckoned that they were sent by the psychic guy and one of the clippings was from a thing called the Daily Prophet. I’ve never heard of that one before, looked it up on the ‘Net and drew a complete blank. Hermione grinned, “It’s the main daily literary organ of the wizarding world. In non-magical terms, I’d liken it for intellectual content with The News Of The World and a bit less tits and bums than the Sunday Sport, frankly, but, yes, the news was quite full of Sirius. Unfortunately, they chose to keep the news of his pardon hidden away, poor man was always hunted”, her expression sobered.

Adele looked off into her own world, staring at a spot between her eyes and the planking of the balcony floor, “So, he really didn’t lie to me, did he? Sirius, I mean? He really wasn’t in any position to help me more than he did?”, she looked around, her eyes wet. “No”, murmured Harry, “He really wasn’t. Given that he was really stuck by then, sending you to the other side of the globe to a place without many wizards in would have seemed like a good idea at the time and if he had poked around while he was hiding out at school, he may have known that he had a magical child and sent you the galleons, thinking perhaps that you might have found out what to do with them. It’s a bit of a leap, I know, but there again, I doubt he was in any position to change money by that time anyway”.

She looked up and into Harry’s eyes caught like a rabbit in headlights. She whispered, “One night, we were in the back field at this event. It was the quietest and you got a good look at the stars lying on your back. We were both legless and he started telling me stories, stuff about magic I suppose, how folk can fly on broomsticks and play this game and how he could tidy up with a flick of this magic wand thing, oh, and that he could make his bike fly. At first I thought he’d been at the magic mushrooms, he was quite partial to the old hallucinogens, but then it seemed like he was just rambling ‘cos he was pissed. He passed out drooling on my shoulder”.

This image was too good for Severus and he burst out laughing. Adele smiled at him, “Yes, well. The next night, we rode down to the woods”, she coughed politely. “Anyway, on the way back, it was completely dark, we weren’t pissed or anything, the bumps disappeared from under the bike. Remember we were riding around lumpy English fields in the middle of the night, then he lifted the bike a bit higher. We were flying!!! We didn’t go far ‘cos he didn’t want to be spotted and also I, chicken that I am, shrieked loud enough to raise half of Kent”, she let out a long breath and fanned herself with her hand, “That was magic, wasn’t it? I wasn’t imagining it, was I? It’s just that it took a bump on the head after a car crash to remember it five years later. Most odd”.

The three magicals glanced between themselves, Severus spoke up, “It’s possible that after showing your fear, Sirius chose to charm you with an ‘obliviate’ which removes the selected memory immediately while it is still in the process of being made so to speak and it took the bump on the head to dislodge it again. Not unknown”, he finished, drily.

Adele frowned, “Some of this magic sounds a bit dodgy, then, messing with memory, along with these fascists factions, what else is there? Killing with a single word and a point of a wand?”

Harry murmured, “Two, actually. Two words. Yeah, and the wand pointing. Sometimes magic is gruesome. Your wand is friend and helper, extra hand and deadly weapon; the lynchpin for your magic. You can wash dishes magically, call each other through linked fireplaces the world over, turn into animals or kill with two words, cause more pain with a single word that is worse than post-operative as it’s in every nerve ending or summon up a rain of fresh rose petals at a wedding. Yeah, weird stuff, magic”.

She looked back down at her son, “Well, it may be a bit late but if you’re up for it, we can train you if you want, well, if we can find someone. Would you like that?” Sammy grinned at her, “Well, maybe that Roger is a place to start, and Jed’s already said he’ll come with me if I have to go abroad, Europe, maybe”. She squeezed his hands again, “I have a little put aside. It’s yours when I pass, but I might as well give it to you now, this might prove expensive and worry not, I also have a separate little wedding fund set up, started it when the law changed. Ah, a mama lives in hope and now look!”, she threw her hands in the air again to make her point to more laughter.

That was mum told.

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