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

5

Although it was dark outside, when Severus slid the side window open beside him he could smell the sea. He breathed in deeply and Harry glanced at him, grinning. “I took the liberty of booking us a villa in Marbella just along the coast about an hour and a half’s drive from here to get you acclimatised. It’s still pretty hot here at this time of year and I thought staying in Bessie might be a bit much to start with so I figured we could do with a bit of luxury to start us off. Apparently this villa belongs to a film star or so the agents told me and there’s a massive swimming pool and hot tub and jacuzzi and all sorts. I thought we could relax for a while and sort out where we want to go and what we want to see. I haven’t done any real sight-seeing since I got to Spain but there are many things I want to see while I am in this incredible country”.

Severus was quiet in the passenger seat until Harry asked him if he was all right. Severus smiled at him, “I’m more than all right, Harry, but I just need a bit of time to get used to everything”. He related his thoughts about fading into obscurity for the rest of his life and Harry reached out a hand to grasp his briefly before turning his attention back to the road. He thought his lover’s comments of slowly spending his life not doing much was the saddest thing he had ever heard but said nothing. The man was only sixty two, relatively young still for a wizard after all. “Sev, we will do whatever we want from now on. Both of us. We will be obscure here, no-one has a clue who we are or what we are and no-one gives a damn about another couple of Brits on the Spanish coast, the place is heavin’ with them. We’ll be just another couple of tourists among many. There’s more than one way of disappearing you know. Think of it as hiding in plain sight. I can’t wait to see you with a tan”, he added cheekily.

The town itself was jumping with people enjoying the plentiful night life and Severus looked this way and that taking it all in as they drove past. They took a minor road out of the town and started to climb into the hills inland before stopping in front of a splendid bulk of house that was difficult to make out in the dark. Harry lugged Severus’ case into the house. The villa was indeed enormous and very luxuriously appointed. Harry gave him a quick tour before he fished out a couple of beers from the well-stocked fridge and they made their way out onto a huge terrace that overlooked the town and the sea beyond.

They deposited themselves in the large double lounger and sipped beer while holding hands and Harry felt Severus start to relax beside him as they took in the glitter of the lights reflecting off the distant water. Harry turned to Severus and pulled them closer and they kissed slowly and passionately, then rolled towards him and deepened the kiss. Severus moaned, “Bloody hell, Harry, I’ve missed you so much”, he murmured between kisses and Harry felt a lump in his throat, “Missed you too, even though I have had loads to see and do. I wished many times that you were with me but I needed this time to put my memories of Draco to rest”. Severus nodded his understanding, “There hasn’t been a day go by when I haven’t thought of you, you know”, and Harry smiled shyly as he looked into that beautiful gaunt face relaxing so close to him. “Me either, but I needed to give Draco this time. What is that asinine expression? Distance makes the heart grow fonder? Well it worked”, he whispered and was caught in strong arms and kissed senseless, the passion building slowly between them both. Severus murmured, “Shall we go to bed?”, and Harry giggled, “Oh, I dunno, I quite fancy making love to you right here under the stars. I think bed is a little overrated albeit comfy, but this lounger thingie is jolly comfy too and I want to see you by starlight. Are you game?”

By way of reply, Severus grabbed him in a sexy clinch and rolled them both over until he pinned Harry beneath him and showered his younger lover with kisses. Clothes were quickly dispensed with. Lubricant Summoned and Severus was re-acquainting himself with Harry’s tight tanned body, sheepishly glad of the dim light to hide his own whiteness as they finally joined and he sank into Harry’s tight heat to moans form them both and they fucked and rolled and thrust and came crying out each other’s names to the wheel of stars circling overhead until they lay side by side sweaty and laughing with joy at being re-united at last. On an impulse, Harry rose and grabbed Severus’ hand, “Come on, let’s wash off in the pool”, and they walked together down the shallow steps and into the warm water and hugged and kissed in the heated depths before taking a swim to cool off.

A little later, they drifted into the villa and Harry pulled out more beer and a simple supper from the depths of the fridge and they ate naked at the kitchen table. “This is gloriously decadent”, Severus murmured in that voice that Harry loved so much as they fed each other on fruit and bread and cheese. Harry noticed Severus’ yawns and decided that today had been a long day for them both, so after supper and another beer each they made their way to bed, sleeping tangled together in the cool sheets. Just as he was dropping off, Severus remarked that he thought that this would be the best time he had ever had in his life. Harry murmured, “I hope so, love, I really hope so, for both of us. We deserve this”. Severus’ heart sang as he drifted into sleep, Harry’s arms around him.

The next two weeks were extremely relaxing for them both. Severus worked on acquiring a tan while Harry swam and they both lazed about neither wearing a stitch, which Severus found extremely liberating. They swam and sunbathed and read to each other and slathered each other in some strange Muggle cream that Harry described as high SPF that Severus wasn’t sure he understood but he was grateful for it as his tan deepened without burning. Harry had set up the laptop on the kitchen table and hooked it up to the phone line before they sent their latest update to the people back home. Hermione giggled at how relaxed they both were and Harry laughed and said, “Don’t ask us to stand up, as neither of us has worn clothes for nearly a fortnight”, as their heads were close together as they laughed into the tiny webcam. They made forays into town and ate out most nights, Severus delighted at the local cuisine, heavily reliant on local fish and the freshest of fresh fruit and vegetables. As their fortnight drew to a close, Severus declared he wasn’t ready to leave just yet as he was still adjusting, so Harry rang the agents and booked them another two weeks. He was happy to stay here for a while and he was delighted with the way Severus was adjusting to the idea of being abroad.

They sampled a little of the local night life, most was too noisy for their tastes, but they found a tiny gay bar run by a local gay couple that suited them just fine, drinking and dancing into the small hours. They made love a lot, they ate and drank and thoroughly chilled out. Harry could see the changes that this new pace of life wrought on his lover. He already looked ten years younger and, as his leg wasn’t playing up nearly so much in the warm sun, he could do without his cane for the most part.

They spent time exploring the bit of coast near them in Bessie and Severus declared how much he was enjoying this ‘travelling malarkey’ as he dubbed it, and both realised that had they been with their previous loves, this would never have happened. “Remus was a bit insular”., Severus admitted. Harry laughed, “Drae would have been burned to a crisp this far south. He thought a tan was so ‘common’, but that was only because he was too pale to handle the hot weather. He would turn red, peel and turn white again, bless him”. They took a moment out to think about them but soon turned back to each other.

Harry flung his arms around Severus and kissed him, “This is the best time, Sev. I hope you’re enjoying this as much as I am”, he whispered and Severus smiled widely, “Oh, yes, Harry. I never had any idea that travel could be like this or that I could enjoy companionship like this. This will open my eyes in a way I never thought possible”, as he drew Harry to him. The resultant kiss built heat between them and Severus couldn’t stop himself, “I love you, Harry. I really do”, he murmured into Harry’s shoulder. Harry lifted Severus’ face to his and gazed into dancing dark eyes, “I love you too, Sev. I love you too”.

****

They spent time with the atlases planning the next move and decided to move further north for a while. Harry wanted to see the Alhambra palace at Granada and tour the country around Seville and Cordoba before settling on a villa rental further along the south coast near Almeria for Christmas when they would meet up with Hermione and Neville and their children.

And so they did, finally spending some time actually staying aboard Bessie as they wandered about. Severus was enchanted by the Alhambra dating back as it did to the Muslim occupation of southern Spain many centuries earlier. They spent several days there taking their sweet time about exploring. He was also very impressed at Harry’s facility with languages which he seemed to pick up by osmosis. Severus had more than a working knowledge of ancient languages but Harry was proving himself to be adept at any number of modern tongues, switching between French, German and Spanish as occasion dictated. He would chat easily with other travellers that they met along the way, switching tongues with alacrity often in the same conversation while translating for his lover in a low tone while also handling financial transactions and bookings for accommodation over the phone in his word-perfect Spanish that would leave the older man gasping in astonishment.

As they progressed, Severus realised that Harry was the quintessentially perfect travelling companion, guide, interpreter and amateur historian all rolled into one. “Where did you become so adept at languages, Harry?”, he asked. Harry shrugged, “Most of the European languages left a mark on English over the years and many words and phrases have similar roots. It’s not that difficult once you get to grips with that idea. I never learned languages formally, even at primary school, I got no more than a slight smattering of French, but at Hogwarts I appreciated the roots of things and language is no different. I dunno”, he finished vaguely. Severus was quietly amazed.

They spent the latter part of the year exploring the southern reaches of the country and set off for Almeria as December was well entrenched. By now, each had cultivated deep tans and both looked enough like natives to be often addressed in Spanish as they travelled around. This made Harry laugh, “This is the difference, Sev, between being a tourist and being a traveller. Tourists come out here, spend time in enclaves friendly to English speakers and treat the place like Brighton only in warmer weather. A traveller on the other hand does all he can to absorb the real culture, the life beneath the gaudy lights and the fleshpots put here for the amusement of the casual holidaymaker. I came here looking for the real Spain. There are lots of things I’m not keen on here, like the Catholic religion and bullfighting which I personally think is cruel in the extreme but that is all part of the experience. There is true sophistication here that I want to explore in the New Year. I want to see some of the Art here and for that we need to travel further north. I want to visit the centres of Art here. The Prado in Madrid and particularly the area around Barcelona where some of my favourite artists lived and worked” Severus delighted in the fact that the teacher was now the taught and revelled in this.

Harry had booked them a splendid villa overlooking the sea for Christmas and was overjoyed to see his best friend again when she and her husband and family joined them. The complex boasted two houses, one larger than the other, where the family could stay in one and the new couple in the smaller villa. Severus was happy to spend time with Hermione’s children glad that the large group had the larger villa to meet up in and enjoy something like a true Christmas in, but equally pleased that he and Harry could slip off to their smaller house for privacy and peace and quiet.

The children were somewhat younger than Draco’s two lads as Hermione had delayed having her brood until she had finished her own education. Severus enjoyed crossing wits and minds with her and even found himself enjoying Neville’s company. Nowadays, Neville was an accomplished medi-wizard and they shared a common ground over treatments and potions: although Severus could still read his guest’s parochialism bowled over by his wife’s desire for adventure beyond the narrow confines of the wizarding world.

Hermione now worked for the Department of Mysteries who were still trying to get to grips with the causes of the Cancer that had killed both Draco and Remus. They spent many long hours after the children were in bed discussing this and the general state of the wizarding world. Severus admitted to her that neither he nor Harry had thought much about magic since they had begun their odyssey. She was neither surprised nor disappointed in this. “You two look so happy together”, she remarked with a stab at casualness. Severus laughed and saw through her ploy. “I can truly say that I have never been so happy in my life. The weather is even kind to my gammy leg. I limp still but I have no need for my stick any more since I am able to swim pretty much whenever I choose and it has done my leg no end of good. I’m glad I let Harry talk me into this. I love it all”, he flushed slightly.

Hermione regarded him with her level hazel gaze, her head tipped to one side, “You’re in love, aren’t you?”, she quizzed. Severus regarded her out of the corner of his eye and nodded, smiling. “Oh, yes, make no mistake about it. I thought that Remus was the love of my life but I was wrong. I loved that man, but Harry has given me so much more. It’s like he freed me. From the narrow confines of our world. He has helped me to enlarge my horizons, see so much more and I love him for it. I will admit that when I set out, I was full of fear and trepidation but he has helped me to see that there is this great big world beyond the magical where there is just as much magic but of a different sort. Yes, I love him and he loves me. This in no way casts aspersions on our previous partners who we both hold dear, but there has to be a point at which there is a letting go and we have both done this. I love him so much for helping me past the grief”.

They watched as their partners played chess together and both smiled indulgently at them. Hermione giggled, “I never thought I would get Neville out of the country. My folks took me abroad loads of times but just as tourists. I wish I could be a real bona-fide traveller for once, you know, take the time that you two have to really explore and find things out. There’s only so much that books can teach you”, she sighed and shrugged, “Maybe when the kids are older and have flown the coop”. They left it like that and went to join their partners as the game they were playing was finishing, Harry the clear victor, Neville apologising for not being the master tactician that Ron was. Harry hushed him as Severus plumped down next to his lover and kissed him on the forehead, “Enjoy your game?”, he enquired and both nodded. They made their excuses and left for their own house shortly afterwards.

As they walked across the yard to the other villa, Severus told Harry of the conversation that he had had with Hermione, “She has such an enquiring mind, that lady, I wish I hadn’t been such a bastard to you all in school”. Harry pulled him to him and they kissed, “Oh, well, what’s done is done. It’s like any history, those who do not learn from it are destined to repeat it. I bet if you went back to teaching you would be different now”, and Severus could not help but agree.

They made love that night, slow and considered. There were no screams, no yelling to the rafters, just a quiet reaffirmation of the deep love they felt for each other and they slept in a tangle of limbs succumbing to the beauty of place, of time, and each other.

The kids adored Bessie and poked about exploring the depths of their transport as Harry drove them about exploring their immediate surroundings. They revisited Granada for their friends’ benefit and were rewarded with the appropriate ‘wow’s. They visited museums and beaches and all had an excellent time. Hermione was so glad to be in the hands of two seasoned travellers and let them lead her and her family into all sorts of adventures picked out for the benefit of the kids as much as the adults. She was secretly delighted at the way Harry and Severus took her eldest daughter under their wings and introduced her to another culture far away from the narrow confines of Wizard-dom, much as they all loved it. Neville was equally as delighted as they found all sorts of hidden delights for them all to explore and swore to himself that this was not the last time that they would all go abroad. They all had a lovely time and were all regretful when Harry ran them to the airport and Severus and Harry waved them off onto the plane. If Hermione had her way, and Harry was pretty sure that she did, then this would be the start of many happy times for the Granger-Longbottom household in the arena of travel.