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

3

The next few months were a whirl of activity for Harry. He packed up the cottage and put most of his and Draco’s things into storage. He retained a selection of practical things like bedding and cookware. A veil of secrecy blanketed most of his activities as he seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time out in the Muggle world where no-one was privy to his comings and goings, a place where no-one knew him at all and he could pass freely. He transferred money from Gringott’s and opened up a Muggle bank account. He applied for his birth certificate and obtained a passport. Severus sighed when he realised that Harry was quite serious about this travelling lark.

Just as Spring was on the cusp of summer, Harry invited a few friends to the Leaky Cauldron for a few drinks and had an announcement for them. As Hermione entered with her husband, Neville, they were greeted effusively. Shortly afterwards Ron appeared with Oliver Wood his life partner and they all hugged and kissed. Ginny came next on the arm of her second husband. She had been a Finch-Fletchley for a while until matrimony had made him turn from a mellow sort of chap into a violent bully who had hit her and hurt her many times. She was a widow mere weeks after she had finally broken down and told her family. She wasn’t sure which of her brothers had been the instrument of his end but she was only glad to be finally free of him. After a few years she had ended up with Ernie Macmillan, not the catch her family had hoped for, but the sound of her peals of laughter whenever he was around more than made up for his physical rotundity and his less than sharp brain. She was happy and that’s all that mattered.

Severus was the last to join the party, greeting all cordially to have slightly pitying smiles returned in his direction but as Hermione had reasoned before he had appeared, Harry needed to sort out his life before committing himself again and to everyone’s eyes but his own perhaps, they could all see that it was only a matter of time before he and their ex-teacher got together.

They made pleasant small talk exchanging pictures of children, now mainly grown and getting convivially pissed together. Harry sat beside Severus the whole evening. Then the talk turned to Harry’s plans for his upcoming sojourn away. Hermione came straight to the point, “So, Harry, a life of luxurious hotels or a life on the bum. Which is it to be?” He grinned at them all, “A bit of both. I’m going to disappear for a while, go completely incognito, travel Muggle-style for a bit”. Ron laughed, “So, planes, trains and automobiles?” Harry stood then, “Not quite. Come outside for a bit and let me show you all”. Instead of leading them back into Diagon Alley, he led them out to the Muggle side and they all followed, completely mystified, including Severus who was as in the dark as the rest of them. They piled into two black cabs and were whisked away a few miles into deepest suburban London and fetched up in a silent street bounded on one side by a railway that passed high overhead, the arches of the space underneath had long been converted into workshops and business premises of various sorts and Harry stopped them before one such.

He wrestled a large bunch of keys from his jacket pocket and unlocked the tall double doors of one of the units and switched on the lights. “Stand over there, everyone and I’ll introduce you to Bessie”, he smirked as he fastened the doors open. They heard the roar of an engine and he inched a large van into the quiet street before killing the engine and leaping down from the cab. “Here she is, meet Bessie”.

Bessie was a long wheel-base Mercedes D-series van of some vintage but in excellent condition. They all gasped, “You’re gonna be living in that thing?” came Neville’s incredulous voice. Harry beamed and nodded, “This is where I’ve been disappearing to all this time. She was sound when I got her, a real bargain. She’s packing a Perkins V-16 under the bonnet”, he slapped it playfully, “Totally refurb’ed engine, runs sweet as a nut. But it’s inside where I’ve done most of the work”. He opened a side door and slid it aside to reveal a totally liveable in interior producing a collective ‘wow’ from the rest of them. Hermione said, all sense as usual, “Harry, aren’t you, well, a bit old, to be travelling like some hippy student type?” Harry rounded on her, “Probably, but all my life I’ve wanted to do this. All my life I have done what others expected of me, even Drae, bless him, had no time for foreigners. Now I’m doing what I want for a change, and anyway, fuck it, I’m forty, if I don’t do this soon, I never will, and I want to see stuff. I can stay in hotels where and when I please but travelling like this gives me so much freedom. This old girl will take me across deserts and over mountains and she’s small enough to handle low bridges and stuff. I wanted to buy a bus, more room on board, but then you run into height problems everywhere and I would have to take main roads and that kind of things. When I wanted to get lost, I meant it although I’ve full GPS on board, this is no hippy wagon, ‘Mione. Come on, climb up, take a look around”.

He helped various folk climb aboard. Ron was the most impressed after all, he and his sister were relatively well travelled compared to most magical folk although he had no idea as to what GPS may constitute. Harry showed them the bed that lifted up to reveal a small library beneath in one half and the spare parts storage in the other. The fitted wardrobe that, when the clothes were shifted aside, revealed a pull out desk containing a laptop and a bank of hard drives, the tiny loo cum shower stall, the tiny stove with an equally small fridge underneath, a sink with storage for cookware and food beneath. Hermione’s eyebrows shot into her hairline when she spied the library and the computer, “What’s on the hard drives, Harry?” He laughed, “About six hundred movies and about three thousand albums is what, also one of them is attached to the GPS system but I still have road atlases for backup”. The whole thing was extremely well thought out and there was enough room for two people to live fairly comfortably. He had cut into the bodywork to create windows on either side and a sofa ran along one side that when pulled into the centre of the vehicle and bolted down made her capable of carrying passengers, all totally road-legal both here and on the Continent.

They all ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the set-up, not all understanding it. “See. All Muggle, not a drop of magic to be found anywhere on her. So, what do you all think?” He chewed his lip as he looked into all of their faces. Ernie spoke up, “I think this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen”, and Ron echoed the sentiment. Neville wasn’t convinced but Ginny giggled, “Well, it’s different at any rate”. Harry rolled his eyes, “’Mione, you’ve got a computer so I’ll be sending you my travelogue as bitstreams and e-mails for the most part, I’ve got a vid camera and a still camera so you can all keep up with what I’m up to”, he directed this at Severus and smiled. Severus was still too non-plussed to speak, poking into cupboards and the space under the stove.

The others all climbed off and left the two alone for a moment, “You surely don’t expect an old bloke like me to travel in this contraption do you?” Harry rolled his eyes, “Yes, that’s why I didn’t get a horse box to convert. Aside from the fact that they’re too tall for most country lanes, the bed in a horse-box is over the driver’s cab and this one is at the same level as the rest of it so you won’t have to climb about, and I have your favourite classical CD’s programmed into the hard drives. Also there’s two comfy front seats so you can ride up at the front with me. A coach has only one seat at the front”. Severus started to smile, “So you’re saying you did this whole thing with me in mind?” Harry nodded a little bashfully, “Yeah. Oh god, you hate it don’t you?” the man shook his head, “No, it’s just like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I hope I can adjust, that’s all. Won’t we be on top of each other all the time?” Harry smirked, “Well, if you still want me after the six months is up then I’m rather hoping that’s part of the plan”, and watched the man redden slightly.

They had agreed that Harry start ahead to give them both time to assess the state of their relationship and to give Harry the requisite year to mourn his lost loved one. Severus would need more time to wind down the business and they agreed to spend some time apart although they knew they wanted each other as more than the occasional comfort fuck which they had been indulging in with the utmost discretion, but both knew that Harry still had issues to deal with and was reluctant to enter into another fully fledged relationship so soon after Draco’s death. They were a little shy with each other for a moment before Severus pulled Harry into his arms and just held him, “I think we could have a lot of fun in this thing and there’s no reminders of our past lives here. It will be nice to just be Severus for a change instead of former Death-Eater and all that codswallop. Actually, the more I look at it, the more I just want to pack a bag and join you”.

Harry drew away slightly, “Really?” Severus looked around him and smiled, “Yes, as a matter of fact. I find this whole idea rather fascinating. A rolling home. I’d have never thought of this in a month of Fridays”. Harry beamed at him, “So you’ll come and join me in six months?” Severus nodded slowly, “I rather thought of travel as overloaded suitcases and wrestling with customs and aeroplanes and such and mixing with the Muggle population”. Harry shrugged, “Well there’ll be a fair amount of that particularly if we choose to visit the more popular sites, but we can stay on camp-sites all over the world and be reasonably independent, and if we choose to go to other continents, we load her onto a container ship and fly out to wait for her to turn up, we needn’t be worried about over-booked hotels and the like. We can stop and kip in any lay-by big enough to park up in anywhere we like”. Severus planted a light kiss in Harry’s hair as he held him, “This is wonderful, Harry. The minute you are gone, I’m going to wind the shop down and you will see me again the minute the six months are up, I promise”. They held tight then and kissed properly. “I can’t wait”, Harry murmured. “Me either. I never thought that travel could be this .....interesting, to be honest”.

They climbed down and Harry reversed her back into the garage and locked her up. He pulled out his mobile and called two cabs to take them all back to the ‘Cauldron. Ginny, who travelled back with Harry and Severus noticed the discreet holding of hands in the back of the cab and smiled to herself. She could understand totally the protocol of waiting and silently wished them both the best as they whispered together and made plans for the coming winter. She heard ‘Spain’ mentioned a few times and maybe Italy and felt a jolt of longing. She’d rather enjoyed her own experiences of travel in the past.

****

Harry had to hand back the keys to his old cottage, not without a few tears for the chapter of his life that was coming to a close. As he left the place for the last time, he whispered, “Farewell, my Dragon. I am accepting Sev, but I’ll never love him like I loved you. We are going to have an adventure, one that you won’t have liked, love, but I’m doing this for me at long last. I have a picture of you on Bessie. Rest easy, love, and I’ll see you again someday”. He stared at the dust but no words were forthcoming, Draco had truly spoken his last to his bereft lover.

He spent the last few days in England staying at Severus’ flat over the shop. They tried for decorum, really they did but after the first chaste and totally sleepless night, they gave up and indulged themselves totally. Harry took Severus for a spin in Bessie to give him an idea of what travel in her may entail. Severus marvelled at Harry’s proficiency on the crowded southeastern roads. “Harry, how long have you been driving?” Harry glanced at him and shrugged, “Got my car licence before my Apparation licence, while I was waiting for Draco after school. I was eighteen. I was nearly nineteen before I actually got tested at the Ministry. We would occasionally hire a car and drive about”.

As they finally left the congestion of London behind they headed towards the south coast and Brighton. “This is definitely the gayest town in the south of England”, Harry remarked as they looked for a place to park up, lighting on a small camp ground just out of town. Severus looked thoughtful as they pulled up and Harry killed the engine. He hopped out of his seat and sat in Severus’ lap, a rather adorably adolescent move that Severus secretly loved even while he complained and squirmed under Harry’s weight. “Come on, Sev, what’s the problem?” Severus looked up into Harry’s face, “You will have to help me here, you know, Harry. I know very little of Muggles and their world”. Harry smiled gently and leaned down to kiss him, “Of course I will. I’ll give you all the instructions on how to get your passport and everything and anything I forget, just ask Hermione, she’s far more of a Muggle than I am and knows loads more. Take her with you for the important things like getting your health insurance and your money changed, that sort of thing. I let Gringotts do mine to pounds sterling then I just got a bunch of Euros at a Bureau de Change. She’ll know the best way and how to get the best rates”. They kissed properly then and Harry leapt off Severus’ knee and pulled him up, “Come on, let’s go and explore and get some lunch, I’m starving”.

They spent a very pleasant weekend walking on the beach and exploring the town. Severus even let Harry persuade him onto the Pleasure Beach and howled with abandon on the faster rides, coming off pink cheeked and laughing, declaring, “I always wanted to do that. Fairs would come to my home town but I was never allowed near them. My parents thought it....unseemly for a wizard”. Harry cast him a sidelong glance grinning his head off. Travel with Severus Snape just might be the most fun thing he had ever done and he kicked himself a bit over the self-imposed six month limit he had set himself, but he owed Draco that much at least.

The crew had a last night in the Leaky Cauldron to see Harry off. Harry was nearly bouncing off the walls in his impatience to be gone. He had a light in his eyes that folk hadn’t seen there for ages. Severus worried a bit and whispered, “Will you wait, Harry, or will you get tempted?”, after a few drams. Harry turned to him, his gaze intent, “Silly bugger, of course I will. I waited for Draco chastely at eighteen for fuck’s sake for four fucking years. I think I have enough of a grip on my libido that I can hold out six months now I’m over forty. I’m hardly a spring chicken any more. Out there, I’m just another Muggle and a middle-aged one at that. Don’t worry, Sev, my arse is all yours”. The man groaned softly at this and they excused themselves shortly afterwards, Harry pleading an early start on the morrow in order to miss as much of the rush hour as he could. He had a berth for him and Bessie booked on an early Eurostar. He hugged and kissed his friends and murmured to Hermione, “Remember, every other day, I’ll send either e-mail or a webcam report”. Hermione nodded. Harry had paid for a broadband account for her so he could communicate with them all. It may be a bit slow still and the images a bit jerky but they could all still talk. The full magicals amongst them still didn’t grasp the concept of live talk with pictures from anywhere but Hermione sniggered as she realised the surprise they were all going to get. She loved their bafflement over Muggle technology. She grinned and assured him that her machine was fully configured.

They made love long into the night before collapsing in a sweaty heap in Severus’ bed. Severus held his beloved close as he slept, keeping himself awake to imprint as much of Harry as he could into his head before he had to wake him at six, kissing random bits of him as he snored gently in his arms. “Damn it, Harry, but I’m going to miss you so much”, he murmured, kissing a shoulder, to be met with the soft smacking of a sleepy mouth as Harry rolled into him, wearing a slight smile as breath deepened again in sleep. Severus worried and fretted but as he glanced down at the man in his arms he realised he had been seeing another side to Harry, his Muggle side, confident in that big world out there. The world that he would show him in a few short months.

As Severus snuggled down with him, he grinned, kissing Harry’s back as he spooned around him, he would be starting a whole new life, one he had never banked on, thinking he would just sink towards old age running his shop and fading into the background until he drew his last breath, but now, he had a whole new set of experiences to look forward to, “You mad bloody Gryffindor. I love you”, he whispered, into the delicate knobs of spine he kissed as he laid his face against Harry’s back and slept awhile.

The quiet beeps of Harry’s mobile woke him the next day and he dressed in near darkness. He leant over his still sleeping lover and kissed his temple then his sleepy lips, “You know I’m falling in love with you, don’t you?”, he whispered, then drew back. “I’ll see you in six months. Take care, Sev”. The man just mumbled and shifted in the bed before settling to sleep again. Harry smiled at him and brushed hair back from that face, then bent again delivering a last quick peck and let himself out of the flat and the shop, dropping his keys through the letterbox as he did so and headed out into the late dawn, his pack on his back with his last few necessities in, his money belt under his pants and his passport stashed. He apparated out of Diagon Alley as the pub was still shut and melted into early morning London hailing a cab and heading for Bessie’s garage.