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

3

They could feel Bessie’s wheels being clamped to the train as they crept along the floor whilst stewards with flashlights assured each other that Bessie was clear of people. Then the train began to move as Harry loomed over his lover, sprawled out on the thick rug on Bessie’s floor. “We have 35 minutes until we are in France. What do you suggest, o, husband of mine?” Harry leered cheerfully.

Severus pulled him down and they ground together enough to divine their intentions. Severus muttered, “Not here, dear. Not while we have a perfectly serviceable bed to fuck on”, he stood as the train speeded up, holding a hand out to Harry in the dark.

Harry stood in a single move and knocked his lover flat on his back on the bed before ravishing his neck with his hot mouth and, feeling no response worthy of the name, he halted and looked down into his lover’s eyes, a frown creasing his brow. Severus gathered him to his chest and kissed him, “I want you to fuck me, Harry. That much hasn’t changed, despite the change in circumstances, bur I can’t do it to a fucking timetable. Let’s wait until we are on French soil, then I want you to fuck me blind, dress me up however you want me, make me do whatever you want. I’m yours, Harry”. Harry moaned and he continued, “No, Harry, not now”, he purred. “When we get to France”. Harry held tight and arced up, begging for something, his whole body wanting so much, friction, touch, loving, and it was to be denied to him until the tension could ease and that could only happen once they were on French soil. Harry sighed, backed off a little and resigned himself to the inevitable.

Severus took pity on him, undoing his jeans. After all, while they were travellers, Harry did most of the work. He freed Harry’s cock and fed it into his mouth. Harry responded in moments, arching into wet warmth, hardening in seconds, holding back, trying not to push, trying hard not to gag his husband but those insistent sucks were too much and he let go, plunging back and to, Severus adjusting expertly to his lover’s thrusts until with a last push and several gasped cries, Harry came deep in Severus’ throat and passed out, his jeans around his knees, his t-shirt pushed up over his nipples and little splatters of excess come over his beloved’s face. Both dozed, happy men until the sound of clanking and loud voices reminded them they were now in a different country. Severus kissed Harry deeply before they straightened their clothing and clambered back into their seats in time to be debarked. They were the other side of the English Channel at long last.

****

Harry didn’t linger in the port area this time but set off like a bat out of hell, joining the motorway as soon as possible and just as soon, branching off onto the smaller roads, the way he had always travelled. As he turned off the Autoroute, he breathed a sigh of relief. There was no-one following them and they had been the only vehicle to leave at their exit. He relaxed into his driving posture and carried on, down the small dark roads into the centre of the country. For the first time in several days, they felt safe as they bypassed the loom of the lights over Paris and slipped into the countryside to the far East of the city. Sometime in the night, Harry grew tired of the drive and pulled into a wooded layby, killing the engine.

He slumped over the wheel resting his head on his folded arms. Severus was out of his seat in a trice and crouched beside Harry stroking his back, then lifted him from the seat and into his arms as his shoulders started to shake, “Hey, hey, don’t cry, love. We’re reasonably safe for now. Shh, come here”, Severus made soothing noises as he held his love, but Harry was not to be mollified, “I never run away, Sev, it’s just not my way, and the poor girl’s dead. Now what?” Severus breathed deep and led them both to the sofa and sat them both down, “Harry, I did a deal of reading on this yesterday and I know we have that faction rattled. The papers were amazed that the testimony that proved conclusively the existence of another Dark Lord came from none other than the famous Harry Potter. No-one mentioned how you came by it and the fact that we just stumbled on it was interpreted as serendipitous, nay, ordained in some way. Opinion has it that, just as you had an irrefutable link with Voldemort, then you must be able to read this other chap, de Santos”.

Harry knew that Severus was trying to cheer him up but he still felt like a coward, “We’re heading straight into the lion’s den, or should that be teeth. We have to sail from Santander in Northern Spain. I hope that the borders are not being watched otherwise we’ll be in the same bother we faced in Germany and have people pick up our trail wherever we go. I feel like a frigging criminal on the run and I don’t like it, though I know the others have to do their job without us in the way”, he shuddered.

In truth Severus was starting to have some reservations about them running, but once again, they had let panic dictate their actions. Where was the cool clear-headed warrior he had been, when he needed him? In that moment, Severus realised that he had been a warrior from necessity only and his usually healthy sense of self-preservation was once more to the fore. He also realised that Harry was naturally courageous. Perhaps his caution, or, if you like, paranoia, was holding Harry back from fulfilling some duty that he felt honour-bound to uphold. Was this to be their fight once again? All of a sudden, Severus Potter-Snape felt very old.

Harry detected the shift in his lover’s mood and called him on it. The older man let out a long breath, “I’m sorry, Harry. I feel like I’m taking you away from something that I shouldn’t be, that somehow you should be at the thick end of it all and my fears for us are holding you back. There, I’ve said it. You married a coward, love”.

Harry sat back, surprised, “Do you really think so?” Severus nodded, “I just know that I never want to be embroiled in another war again. My previous involvement was less than heroic for the most part and people have selective memories. If pressed, they will remember me as the Death-Eater that I was, not the one who trained and assisted the hero”

Harry stood back from him and regarded him levelly, casting a slow look up and down. Severus shrank from the scrutiny as Harry divined his true worth, letting his head dip in the shame he felt washing over him, until Harry reached out, grasping his chin and forcing his eyes upwards to meet the deep green of his own. He was performing his own coward’s test and did he but know it, Severus counted for a ‘behind him’ position. Harry grinned as he saw this. There would never be another warrior like Draco at his side and he didn’t expect it. At the end, the two were a guided missile between them. If he ever fought again, he could never hope to have another such as Draco at his side, but Severus on the other hand, Harry counted in the same bracket as Ron or Hermione. Great troops to have at your back, but out there, you were on your own.

Harry had always expected this role after all and had been amazed when his lover stepped up beside him during the Final Battle, the one expected to join him, the one meant to take the place of his father, the one who had rebelled, who had fought back, who had fought Voldemort with the same fervour that Harry had and between them they had overcome him, even though it had eventually cost Draco’s life. Harry was saddened to realise that Severus would never be the same calibre of fighter, but he was only one layer behind. He could stand in the front ranks immediately behind Harry’s back with his best friends and Harry was glad enough of this although Severus seemed to think that he was now expected to step up and fill Draco’s shoes, probably felt he had to, but to Harry, nothing was further from the truth.

Severus wasn’t Draco, nor would he ever be, but he was a valuable fighter, none the less, even though the capacity that he had been required to fulfil was different to those in the front line. Harry sighed as he fell forward into Severus’ waiting arms and decided a little ego-massaging was in order.

He held on for dear life, feeling his husband tremble in his arms, “I don’t want to go back there”, Severus whispered into Harry’s hair. “That bastard took a third of my entire life away. Never able to let go, never able to relax, never able to be me. I gave him twenty fuckin’ years”, he shook as he spoke. Harry drew them both apart and looked Severus dead in the eye, “My life may have been shorter than yours at that point, Sev, but at eighteen, he had taken a third of mine away, too. I don’t want to fight any more than you do, but if it is necessary, then I will do, if called upon, you know I will”. Severus desperately wanted to look away but was quite unable to do so, meeting that resolute green with his deep black gaze, trying not to falter as he realised just why Harry was the stronger wizard, feeling the power emanate from him as he spoke, the magic in that deep green gaze.

Severus felt waves of shame wash through him, he would never be the fighter that Harry needed at his side even though Harry was too polite to say so. He curled in on himself with the shame. He could talk the talk but he knew that he would be found wanting when it came time to walk the walk and guiltily admitted as such. Harry surprised him by bursting into peals of laughter that made Severus frown.

Harry took one look into Severus’ face and his guffaws grew louder, “You don’t get it yet, do you, Sev? It’s all about the love. I did it with Drae beside me and, if I have to, I’ll do it again. Why? Because I have love on my side. Love was always my secret weapon. Love and passion. I found it just before that last battle. That’s what got me through, not Drae’s fighting ability, although that didn’t hurt, but it was the love I carried inside that beat him, not my ability, and what do I have now? Only the love of my life, that’s all. It’s love that was the secret to my success, love and nothing more. You do love me, don’t you?” Severus nodded, dumbstruck, “You know I do. I love you so much, that I yanked you away from all your friends and allies to run off with me to the other side of the world, and I realise now that I am a damned fool to take you away from your perceived destiny”,

Harry shook his head, “Not my destiny, love, but that of a scared girl who now lies dead. My destiny was complete the day I cast that Avada on him and we watched as he crumbled before us, but like Hermione said, evil will always rear it’s ugly head and we must simply deal with it whenever and wherever it is manifest. It’s in the nature of us Gryffindor types. Sad, but true”. Severus hung his head and mumbled, “I lost one, I don’t want to lose another, Harry. I want to grow old with you, do up the houseboat with you, watch the sun rise over the Galapagos Islands with you, be with you until I die. Is that too much to ask?” Harry smiled wanly, “One would hope not, but if that is our path, then we must tread it”.

Severus was overcome at the sheer bravery of his lover. There was no foolhardiness here, only a graceful bow of the head to the inevitable, much the same as the rest of Harry’s life had been, and here he was again, taking on the yoke, standing tall under the weight, not letting his knees or back buckle under the weight or pressure, just handling it, taking it as it was dished out, facing it with such equanimity that Severus was truly humbled and burst into tears at the thought.

“You must be so ashamed that you married such a damned coward as me”, Severus sniffled out between ragged breaths. Harry held on tight and burrowed his nose into Severus’ neck, “Far from it, I am proud of you and proud that I belong to you. You have no idea how much. I have no desire to fight again. For one thing, we are hardly match fit as we once were. Peacetime can do that to the most hardened fighters, and Merlin knows, that neither of us are that any more. Time has passed beneath us. I am older now than when you fought Voldemort, think on that! We haven’t kept ourselves in a state of battle-readiness. We didn’t need to. Don’t be too hard on yourself, love, we aren’t the machines we were, we have let life soften us and damn glad I am too. Evil never yet triumphed over good but for short periods, but even in Muggle history, the good side wins, not without sacrifice, mind you, but good always wins eventually, mark my words”.

Severus sank his head into his hands, “I just don’t want either of us to be the sacrifice, Harry”. Harry retorted, “And you think I do?”, his gaze hard as he met obsidian and held on. Severus slowly shook his head, not letting his eyes leave Harry’s, “I don’t know, Harry. It’s a lot harder to be a hero than just winning, isn’t it?” Harry smirked and nodded, “It involves having skin thicker than a rhino’s, a skull denser than a planet’s and the feeling that you are the only person in the world, not to mention an ego bigger than a house, none of which I possess, although there have been many, yourself included, who have attributed these dubious qualities to me”.

Severus made to look down again but Harry prevented him from doing so. He knew that his Sev felt inadequate to the task of being a monster-slayer yet again, and the reasons why, but Harry had to impress upon him the need to sometimes step outside of the box, assume the lead and do the business, even when it wasn’t his appointed task, simply because it had to be done and there was simply no-one else there to do it. It wasn’t about bloody heroics, it was about standing up for the right and doing what needed to be done, with a weary sigh and a shrug at the inevitability of it all, the reluctance of knowing that it was all down to, ‘Me, again. Drat it’, and still taking the job on.

Harry could sense the waves of scepticism pouring from his beloved. He pushed Severus gently back against the sofa’s back and straddled his lap, “Look, I don’t want to go back to Britain at this point, and I’m glad we got away, the attention we would receive will be a pain and a nuisance, particularly as she was found with my letter on her. We need the heat to die down a bit in any case. I don’t want to be in the frontlines of this but I still want to be on hand to consult with or whatever. Just because she was prophesied to get rid of this one, doesn’t mean she was the only one capable, as we all know......”, his diatribe was interrupted by the ringing of his mobile.

“Bugger”, he swore softly and scrambled to his feet and dived for his jacket, slung around the back of the driver’s seat, fishing out his phone and glancing at the screen, “Hermione”, he said as he flipped it open and pressed the green button, “Hiya, gorgeous”, he grinned as he greeted his ‘big sister’, “Whassup?”. He listened for a moment, “We’re in France, not too far from Paris”, he lowered the phone at an obvious request from Hermione and put the thing on speaker for them both to hear, “Hi, Severus, can you hear me too?” Severus smiled, “Loud and clear, dear. How are things at your end?” “Weird but good. Her wand was found apparently and the Spaniards want a delegation of us out there to examine it. One of their Aurors read some mighty strange magic from it and they want our help in deciphering it, so Ron, Ollie and I are heading out there this week. Sorry, you had to bugger off so soon after the wedding, we never got a proper chance for a post-mortem on the party, Harry, but we should meet up and have a natter, all the same. Where are you two sailing from?”

Harry told her, “Santander, in a few days time. We couldn’t wait to go from Tilbury, but the same operator goes from northern Spain and I booked us on, needing to get us clear of Britain, love, but we’re quite safe, even though we’re a bit spooked by the speed at which we have had to move”. Hermione chuckled, “Maybe it’s for the best, you two stay out of the way and let the authorities handle it. I could do with hooking up with you two before you finally take off, I need to obtain those Pensieve memories from you that I mentioned at the wedding.” Harry nodded until he realised she couldn’t see him.

He blurted, “Why don’t we all go to the funeral? Show some solidarity with the grieving family and rattle the other side?”. Severus stared at him, aghast, even while he nodded slowly, “Good idea, Harry”, he murmured, and Hermione agreed, “That’s a great idea, Harry, so thoughtful. If you want, I’ll find out from this end and let you both know, then you can apparate in, save driving and possibly revealing your location”. Both men demurred at the sense in this, “Sounds like a plan to me”, Harry agreed. “Where are you now?”, she enquired. Harry laughed, “In a layby, in the middle of nowhere, we can see the orange glow over Paris from here but Sev’s the navigator, so I’ve no real idea”, to hear her peal of laughter, “Keep it that way, deeply obscure. Wait to hear from us again in the next day or so. Look after each other and stay out of trouble. A big kiss to both of you and I’ll see you soon”, she rang off, leaving a deafening silence behind her.

Severus couldn’t help himself, “A big kiss, eh?” Harry shrugged, “She’s not the only one. Ron told me to give a, and I quote, ‘A kiss to my bro-in-law’”, then smiled at his lover. They love both of us, Sev, and not just ‘cos you’re with me. D’you think for one moment, that Hermione would have let me marry you if she didn’t like you? Likewise with Ron? Those two are my family along with the rest of the Weasleys, Neville, Ollie, the whole clan. And it isn’t just about me, you know. They took to Drae, and they’ve taken to you. I think that some saw us as inevitable after Drae and Remus’ death, remember the square on the quilt?” Harry grinned, folding his phone and advancing on his still seated beloved, straddling him once more.

“You see, my Sev, we still have to be obscure, stay hidden, but we have an army at our backs once more. I couldn’t have done it without them then, and I wouldn’t consider it now. If they want us then they’ll shout out, but until then, we get to live our lives, so calm your fears, Sev, I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I’m the last resort only. We visit the funeral, we give Hermione our memories of that night, then we bugger off to New Zealand. How does that sound?” Severus smiled shyly up at Harry looming over him before sliding down into his lap and groaned, “All right, my love. That’s what we’ll do. I hope I can enjoy the travelling with this current Sword of Damocles hanging over us, that’s all”.

Harry insinuated his arms around his lover’s neck and pulled him close, kissing him fiercely, “Oh, you will, my Sev, you will”. Severus melted under the onslaught of passion from his husband, dissolving into the kiss, feeling the heat build between them. As they parted to draw breath, Harry murmured, “I remember a certain someone giving me permission to do as I would, but only after we were safely on French soil......”, he tailed off as he claimed his beloved’s mouth in a kiss that stole the breath from them both, leaving them red-faced and panting as they surfaced. Severus looked up into the darkening eyes of his husband and smiled, “Yes, I did. What would you have me do, oh, lover of mine?”

Harry drew back a bit and bit his lower lip as he looked down into the flushed face of his beloved and let him have it with both barrels, “I want to fuck you with my tongue......but there’s something I need to do first.....”.

Severus was amazed, “I’ve always wanted you to.....but have wondered why you did not.....I have done this for you, but you have never.....oh, god, whatever you want, please feel free”, he moaned, as Harry bent and kissed him again. As he straightened, he murmured, “It’s the, erm, hair. I need to divest you of it first. I have always done it. I should be a lot hairier there, if you know what I mean”, he seemed shy, diffident, until Severus captured his mouth in another kiss. As they came up for air, Severus asked, “You mean the only reason you haven’t rimmed me before is because you don’t like hairy arses?”.

Harry nodded, “I, too, am a bit hairy, but I do the old hair management thing. It’s great to have girlfriends, sometimes, this is the sort of thing that only a sister can teach you”. Severus laughed aloud and kissed him senseless, “Have at me. These are charms that I have never had the chance to learn. Could you do the sac as well as the crack? Maybe the legs as well. Hair peeping through the weave of stockings doesn’t look good”. Harry coughed in amazement until his lips were prised open by an insistent tongue and he replied, with passion and fervour.

Harry’s thighs spread wider as he rubbed them together, his husband’s arousal as plain as his own, he moaned as their cocks frotted through cloth and Severus, pulling away from the insistent mouth for a moment, murmured, “Shave me, my sweet Gryffindor. Make me ready for you, however you want me”, and Harry felt his insides dissolve at this request, and was determined to do just that as he reached for the fastenings of Severus’ jeans, yanking them open before he climbed off, turning Severus onto his stomach and sliding the denim off over his lush unclad arse, presented with the flesh that he wished to ravish.

He gently bit a cheek as he disrobed his beloved, losing shoes and trousers until he had the man writhing and squirming face-down on the sofa. He withdrew his wand, pushing one of Severus’ legs up beneath him, effectively spreading him, delighting in the lush arsehole that was presented, pinkly winking through coal-black hair. He rolled the tip of his wand over his tongue as Severus pushed up in his direction, plainly wanting, anticipating what was to come.

Inserting the tip of his wetted wand between Severus’ cheeks, he rolled it provocatively as the hair vanished beneath it, following the newly revealed skin with his lips and tongue. Severus gave himself up to the new sensations with a groan, showing his impatience as Harry grinned and took his time rendering his arse crack completely hairless before diving in with his eager tongue, playing with and taunting his lover’s puckered hole before plunging in and making Severus cry out and push back on the invading tongue, spreading himself as wide as he could, welcoming the new heat, the wetness that filled him, wanting more and shamelessly pushing for it.

Harry teased him some more for a while before holding him still once more, withdrawing his tongue to a hiss of disappointment from his lover, but as he started to rub his wand gently over Severus’ balls to banish the hair, the older man spread his legs wantonly, letting Harry’s mouth roam and suck at his bollocks at will, gasping as his hair was removed and the rush of air against his newly sensitised skin aroused him all the more. He was putty in Harry’s hands and he capitulated to him with a shy smile as Harry spread him, opened him then fucked him with enough heat to start a volcano, keeping pace with him as he ploughed his inner depths and wanked him at the same time, a leg casually tossed over his shoulder, the other held in a tense hand as Harry fucked him. Severus felt the imminent black-out and felt the orgasm being ripped from him as he bucked up and came between them, feeling Harry come deep inside him before they collapsed in a heap and let the lassitude take them into a quick and sated sleep.

As Harry sank, he smiled as he realised: they hadn’t even got around to shaving Severus’ legs. As Harry succumbed to sleep, he knew that the leg-shaving scenario would wait for another day. For now, he was sated and happy, as was the man drifting off below him. He was dimly aware of Severus wrapping his arms around him as they catapulted towards sleep. “Love you so much, my husband”, came the murmur from out of the darkness. Harry replied by kissing his husband until he was a jelly in his arms then wrapping his own about him and grinning as sleep overcame them both.