The Journey Cycle: pt 3: Australia *pt 3 complete*

Hi Folks,

I hope that you are still enjoying this and I thank the leavers-of-stars for, well, leaving stars!

I'm posting 2 chappies today. Hurrah!

I dedicate these to George: - April 2000 - Aug 20th 2010 - jellicle name: 'the Bear', now chasing mice in heaven. Sweet dreams little guy. Missin' ya!

5

Severus gasped as they were led out into an open part of the compound, “Merlin, I never realised that helicopters were so small. Will we all fit in?” Jon sniggered, “No problem, it can hold eight as a rule. It’s a bit of a squash when it’s full but there’ll be plenty of room for us two lanky bastards”. Severus shot Jon a ‘look’ to the boy’s delight. He rather liked this irascible old geezer much as his sister was taken with the man’s husband. The four of them were off to Melbourne as promised. They would fly in and out and Harry had the address of the wizarding district stashed about his person.

They were both excited. Neither of them had travelled in this fashion previously and Severus had a case of the butterflies. He had secretly imbibed a seasickness potion in order to not embarrass either himself or his hosts as he was actually quite nervous but Harry was like a six-year old plaguing the pilot with questions. Jon gave Harry the front seat for the better view as he seemed so keen and Harry’s eyes were everywhere.

Take-off made Severus blanch at the suddenness of it; like going up in a lift very very fast indeed. He was no big fan of the lifts at the Ministry so this was quite unsettling to him but in moments they were in the sky. The machine dipped as it hit the air currents then they were off. Harry looked down on the compound, “Wow, I see your point about the tree cover keeping the airborne photographers away. You can’t see a thing from up here. Merlin, this is great”, he enthused. Severus wasn’t so sure to begin with but relaxed somewhat once the flight steadied out a bit and he dared to open his eyes.

Julia had instructed the pilot to take the long way round so they flew quite a few miles out over the ‘interior’ to let their guests take a look at the desert below them. From up here, it looked red, flat and featureless. Harry had his nose pressed to the glass watching a herd of wild kangaroos below them rooting about in the scrub.

The journey didn’t last long. The pilot took them in a loop around the city before landing on the top of a tall building. They had to debark while the rotors were still turning, the updraught whipping their hair into their eyes. Harry laughed as he ducked and ran under the blades, “I feel like Jack Bauer”, he giggled to Julia who laughed. Severus didn’t understand the reference at all but the brother and sister were big fans of the American show ‘24’. Severus felt more like a rumpled James Bond but said nothing just grinning to himself as he dashed away from the craft which took to the air again as soon as they were all clear.

“So, did you enjoy your ride, Severus?”, Julia enquired as they went down in the lift. “It was interesting”, was his reply. Jon accurately interpreted this to mean ‘it was great but it made me nervous’ but stayed quiet. He had noticed the man pale somewhat on take-off and landing although his colour seemed normal again once more.

They made their way to the studios that took up all of the first eight floors of the building plus the huge outdoor lot to the rear that most of the outdoor scenes were filmed in. At present there was another series being filmed. Once the staff knew that Jon and Julia were in the building, they were welcomed everywhere along with their guests. Jon showed them the mock-up of the ‘house’ that was the band’s home in their own show.

Severus was fascinated to see just how little there actually was to the place, a few walls and open on three sides. “Gosh, I actually thought that these bits were filmed in a real building somewhere”, he was quite amazed. Jon laughed, “Oh, no, it’s all illusion. Nothing is real in this business. We film in yellow light as you know then the studio tidies it all up and adds lighting effects by computer”. He took them outside onto the back lot that represented the garden to the ‘house’. The swimming pool that looked so genuine in the two episodes that Harry and Severus had been shown turned out to be nothing more than a mock-up less than a foot deep.

They were taken into some of the back areas. “This is make-up and through there is wardrobe where we are fitted into our costumes”. “Costumes? I thought you wore your own clothes for the show?” Harry was wide-eyed at it all. Julia laughed, “Nope, all new clobber for each season and several changes per episode”, she took them into the cramped storeroom filled with mirrors and rack after rack of clothes. She quickly assessed the men’s sizes and handed Harry and Severus a sweatshirt each with the name of the show and the band emblazoned across the front, “Here you go. One each, a little souvenir of your trip”. Harry hugged her and they both thanked her.

They waited outside a set of double doors until a red light over the door turned green before entering. “We have to be very quiet but Jimmy said we can go in and watch a bit of filming. Come on before they do the next take”. They all entered silently. The director’s assistant found them all somewhere to sit out of the way and they spent an hour or so watching another show being made. Jon whispered, “I’ll show you an episode of this when we get home and you can compare this to what you see on the screen”. Neither Harry or Severus really understood the plot as the episode being filmed was halfway through a series and thus a good way into the plotline but the process was fascinating all the same.

The studio was very hot and there were white lights being used so Jon and Julia slipped on very black sunglasses that they carried everywhere. “Some of our fans think we are a bit snobby hiding behind these shades all the time but you two know better. We just can’t handle the white lights”. They had to be silent during the takes and watched the bimbo of an actress fluff her lines several times before the exasperated director was satisfied.

At the end of the session, the actors broke for lunch. Julia headed towards one of the young guys on set and they rushed into each other’s arms, snogging for Britain. She brought the young man to be introduced. “Meet the rising star of Aussie TV, Neil Appleby. Neil, we met these guys in Crete. Remember the gay wedding I told you we attended in England? Well, these were the guys getting married”. They all shook hands. Neil seemed an affable enough chap but beyond the formalities, he was more interested in spending a little time with his girlfriend.

As the afternoon’s filming got under way, they all slipped out before the studio was sealed again. They were taken into the bowels of the building and shown into a huge dimly-lit room full of banks of computers. “Here’s the real nerve centre, this is where all the CG is done. That’s computer graphics to the uninitiated”. Jon obviously knew quite a few people down here as he was greeted effusively by several. Julia asided, “Jon’s into going into production eventually and he haunts these folk learning their trade when we have time”. She led them over to one woman’s computer station and they stayed quiet as they observed what she was doing.

She called them closer, “It’s okay, I don’t bite. Let me show you what I’m up to”, and she did, patiently explaining the art of ‘cleaning up’ her piece of film. She was scratching out a cameraman that was unavoidably caught on film, “See, we can’t have him show up in the finished product but we needed him there for the next shot which is a daylight close-up so we have to remove him digitally which includes taking all traces of him out of there including this reflection”, she enlarged a portion of the frame that showed a reflection of the man in a glass-fronted cupboard door. “If we don’t take it all out then we will be inundated with letters from folk who have nothing better to do than pick all these things out and write to us about it but I suppose it keeps us on our toes and me in a job”.

They watched her for a while but her work was fairly boring. They bid her goodbye and the next stop was the effects suite. “Here is where props and all sorts are made whether in the flesh or on computers. This is a fun department”. Chaos was more like it with what looked like a half-built Viking ship taking up most of the available floor area. On one wall a gaggle of women were seated on high stools at a long bench making wigs and beards for dwarves for a children’s programme while in another area they were making mock-ups of large machine guns for a war epic that was currently being filmed on location in the bush. “It’s supposed to be set in Iraq but one desert looks pretty much like another and it’s a bit dangerous over there at the moment there being a real war on and all that”.

Harry loved this place. He cautiously hefted a very realistic-looking broadsword to find it was made of painted balsa wood. The beards that the gaggle of ladies were making were made of yak hair that stunk to high heaven, “Cor, I bet these are awful to wear”, Harry commented. Julia giggled, “Yup, although they’ll be washed and tangled first before the actors get to wear them. My mate Will is in this show and he says they still pong. While he’s filming he says he has the stink in his nose all the time. Oh, the joys of acting”, she rolled her eyes to general laughter.

They were briefly shown the editing suite but weren’t allowed all the way in as the man who ran it hated distractions in his domain no matter how famous were the folk wishing to look round. Jon whispered, “He threw Nicole Kidman out of here and she’s, like, the most famous Aussie actress of all time just about, so we don’t count for jack-shit”. Harry exclaimed, “That’s the film I was trying to remember, Sev, the one that has two kids in it that have the same condition that you two have, The Others”, he grinned, “Nicole Kidman starred in that one”. Jon laughed, “Yep, she did quite a lot to publicise our disability and what happens? They pretend that we’re ‘normal’”, he sighed.

The tour ended back in the studio in which stood the set for the house in their own series. Jon and Julia had a locker apiece at the back of the area along with the other actors. They pulled out dark wigs and made to put them on until Harry stalled them, “Are these for going outside in?”, he asked. Julia nodded, “Yup, we would be mobbed otherwise”. Severus stayed their hands, “Let’s try glamours for you, less hot I would imagine than having to wear these things”. Jon scouted the studio and there was no-one present save themselves.

Julia was relatively easy to cast a glamour on as she was a magical however marginal. She preened in front of a mirror with her newly darkened hair and sea-green eyes. Harry gloated, “You could be my sister now”, he crowed. Severus burst his bubble a bit, “Actually, darlingheart, she looks more like your daughter than your sister” to receive a scowl from his beloved. Jon was harder to alter and Severus could do nothing with him. Harry stepped up instead and with a few flicks had transformed him, giving him short sandy hair and hazel eyes. Severus scowled when he saw the changes, “Merlin, Harry, you’ve made him look like Remus did when he was young”. Harry grinned, “You’d better keep your hands off him then. No fantasies about going back in time”. Jon stepped back, “Hey, no weird fantasies, okay? I’m straight”, to guffaws of laughter from the wizards.

Severus purred, “Believe me, I had absolutely no interest in my ex while we were fellow pupils. We didn’t get together until I was in my late thirties. In fact, we were bitter enemies while we were still at school so you have nothing to fear from me”. Jon chuckled, “Oh, I dunno about that. Now you’ll probably want to hex me or something rather than snog me”. Severus raised a classic Snape brow, “I think I am past such things. One does grow out of these things eventually but if you behave badly then I may try to take points from Gryffindor house or issue you with a detention”, to laughs.

Jon and Julia slipped on their sunspecs as the four stepped out of the doors of the studio building and onto the busy Melbourne street. Harry consulted the grubby bit of paper in his pocket, “Well, according to ‘Mione, the magical district is just behind Bourke Street not far from the main Post Office, I think. Do you know it?” Julia smiled, “Yes, it’s just around the corner from here”, her voice quivered with excitement. She was about to see a little of her as yet undiscovered heritage and glowed from the inside. Severus was the one who spotted the shop through which entrance to the wizarding section could be effected.

They stepped into a small side alley while Severus and Harry changed their own appearances. “We can’t be seen in our natural guise here as I’m sure you can understand”, Severus murmured. Jon shook his head at the two men that he now no longer recognised. Harry’s voice stayed the same but Severus’ had gone up a notch or two in timbre and scale as his baritone was quite distinctive, although both gave themselves the accent in order to blend in that bit better. Both brother and sister were gobsmacked by the changes.

“Okay, how do we get in, Hermione said nothing of this?”, Harry muttered. Severus shrugged, “Let’s go into the shop and see, shall we?” They all entered a small dusty ladies’ lingerie emporium that could have come straight out of an old movie. The window was full of waxy plastic torso models sporting corselettes with pointed cups and ghastly pink suspenders hanging limply from them, from a period around the end of the nineteen fifties. The shop was empty when they entered.

Harry spotted the dodgily disguised entrance to the district straight away when he ventured into one of the changing rooms. Luckily there were no worthy matrons about to frighten as he drew out his wand. Severus drew his own and cast another quick spell over Jon, “So you can see what we do. Your sister should be able to see it all with her vestigial magic but as a muggle you won’t. The portal may not have even let you through without this charm. It will last until I lift the spell from you”. Jon grinned, “With the ‘finite incantatem’?”, he asked. “Ha! I have been reading the books that Hermione sent to Jules. Bloody interesting too”.

Harry stood before the shimmering wall with his wand out, chewing the inside of his cheek as he tried to figure out the technique for entry. A woman appearing suddenly at Severus’ side caused all four of them to jump a mile, “Looking for the way in? Tap the top of the mirror and a quick Alohamora is all it takes”. They thanked her, Severus following the instructions and the wall shimmered away to nothingness. Jon and Julia gasped as the wall dissolved leaving a large hole that the four of them stepped through. Jon looked back to see from whence they had come to be faced with a plain brick wall.

“Shit! How do we get out again?”, his tone was tinged with concern. Harry smirked, “Don’t worry, you have two of the most powerful wizards in the world at your side. If we can’t get out then we really will be in deep shit but fear not, I’ve seen better security elsewhere. If we have to we’ll Apparate you back home direct. Just remember the names of Potter and Snape must not be mentioned here. You think you guys are famous and get hassle wherever you go? Mention the name of Potter and see how far we get before we are mobbed. If you have read the last three chapters of Hogwarts: A History then you will have read of the last war and you will know that, like the nazis, many of Voldemort’s followers managed to escape. Be careful everyone”.

The magical district was built around a small square very like many in London with a green space in the centre surrounded by railings with openings to north and south allowing the residents access. As in London, the place had a distinctly Victorian air to it and Harry smiled, “Ah, just like Diagon Alley at home, we are cast back into another time zone. I told you wizardkind was a bit behind the times. Now let’s see what they have here”.

They ventured along one side of the square after another for a quick reconnaissance first. A robe shop, a potions emporium, an owl emporium that also sold other familiars such as kneazles and toads. There was a magnificent snowy owl sitting on a perch outside that made Harry’s heart ache for Hedwig, deceased many years now. Along the next side of the square there was a branch of Gringott’s and not much else. The third side yielded a bookshop that also sold quills and parchment as well as a musty looking Dark Arts shop that sat cheek by jowl with the respectable establishments. No Knockturn Alley here. Everything seemed mixed up here but Harry supposed that lack of space made this necessary. A photographers was adjacent as well as a branch of Honeydukes. This made Harry laugh out loud. He couldn’t resist and dived in buying them all chocolate frogs to eat as they walked around.

Jon and Julia started as the frogs made a bid for freedom but they caught them before they could escape. “You actually eat these things?” Jon enquired drily. Harry chuckled, “The very first wizarding sweetie I ever had when I was eleven. My first one escaped through the train window on the way to school. I got my own headmaster as my first wizarding swap card, let’s see who you two have”. They were shown how to extract the trading cards from the rear of the small boxes. Julia squealed, “Oh! Gothic, this one’s from a series called, let’s see, ‘Evil Wizards in History’, and I’ve got someone called Fenrir Greyback. Oooh, he’s changed into a wolf, oh, now he’s changed back. Is this guy a werewolf?”

Severus grinned, “I’m surprised that they are putting dark wizards on frog cards. Fenrir was the evil bastard who changed my ex”. Julia was astounded, “You mean that your Remus guy was a werewolf too?”, she asked, her eyes round. Severus nodded, “Yes, but the gentlest werewolf you ever met. I invented the Wolfsbane potion that he and others take every month to keep them quiet through their monthly full moon change, Remus ripped out Voldemort’s throat in the Final Battle thus finishing him off for good making sure that he didn’t have a complete body to return in either as a ghost or as the weird shade that he had lived as for many years before he captured Harry stealing his blood to give him a more corporeal form”. They shuddered at this.

Jon fished in the back of his frog box, “Hey I got someone called Harry Potter. Well known is he?”, he smirked, showing Harry the card. Harry rolled his eyes, “Ahem, well, that picture was taken while I was still at school, around the same time as that one of the quidditch teams that your Aunty Irma had. I’ve aged a bit since then, this one’s a bit out of date”, he said, modestly. He opened his own frog, adroitly preventing it’s strike for freedom by biting it’s head off and munching contentedly, “I love Honeyduke’s chocolate. Better than Lindt, I’d say”. He winkled his card out of the box, “Oh, look, I’ve got you, darling”, as an earlier picture of a scowling Severus Snape tipped into his hand. The picture winked at him before the figure disappeared.

“Hmm, I never realised that I warranted my own chocolate frog card”, the older man murmured, clearly surprised, “Only the greatest wizards merited those”, he said modestly. Harry dug him in the ribs, “Behave, love of mine, you are in that class now. These cards are only made from those who have Orders of Merlin Third class or above as you well know”. The changed face of Severus had the good grace to blush as the two newbies patted him on the back congratulating him sardonically.

“So go on, Severus, who do you have?”, Julia nudged him with an elbow. Severus opened the box, caught the frog and bit into it, revelling in the familiar taste of the chocolate before digging into the back of the box, “Hmm, let’s see. Ha!! Nicolas Flamel, an ancient alchemist. He was over six hundred years old before he died. He had extended his life by making a thing called the Philosopher’s stone. Harry here rescued it from Voldemort’s clutches when he was only eleven. It would have conferred eternal life upon him had he laid hands on it but Harry here confounded his plans and continued to do so until he killed him at seventeen”.

The two guests were astounded, “You’ve actually killed someone?”, Julia enquired as quietly as she could. Harry shrugged, “Several people actually. There was a war on. People die, that’s the way of war. I’m not proud of what I did”. Jon turned to Severus. “And you?” Severus shrugged, “Yes. I killed many others too. I was in Voldemort’s service for many years before I realised he was a complete megalomaniac in the mould of Hitler, then I came over to the side of the Light. Even on the Light side, I was responsible for many deaths. We told you that the magical sphere isn’t a pretty place despite what these settlements and shops may show on the outside. Harry and I are both killers. Have been killers”, he amended with a sigh.

Brother and sister exchanged looks, “Will I have to kill?” Julia’s tone was tremulous. Severus placed an arm around her shoulders, “Don’t be silly, child, of course not. There is a new war brewing, even as we speak. Harry and I have actually witnessed the new enemy. We came upon him quite by accident while we were hiking in the hills in Spain. We have many of our own kind back home investigating him. We watched him inducting some of his new followers. It was not a pretty sight. He brands them with a hot iron straight from the fire: the sign of the crossed bones like the lower half of a skull and crossbones, the ancient pirate flag. It seems that every generation throws up it’s own brand of evil. He had his own niece raped and murdered, we think, by his followers, though we aren’t sure yet, left to rot on a hillside near the Spanish/French border. Magic can be really ugly at times”, he sighed resignedly.

Jon and Julia were aghast at this new information, “Bloody hell, that’s terrible”, Julia breathed, plainly horrified. “I read about the historical wizarding wars and about the last one, the one you guys were in but I had no idea it was an ongoing thing”. Harry shrugged, “It’s just as this world is so much smaller then the wars are closer and more personal. Think about it a moment. How many wars are being fought all over the ordinary world at any given moment. There is never a respite from strife, it’s just further away from you personally. Think of Africa for example, Sudan, Rwanda, or take the middle East, Palestine, Iraq, all fought over belief of some sort. The war that has recently ended in Ireland, the blatant sectarianism. The world is bloody ugly chaps not just the wizarding world”. Brother and sister had to agree albeit reluctantly.

They pressed on around the square. The fourth side held a small pub and they repaired there for refreshment. Jon and Julia were glad to remove their sunglasses and were delighted at the gloomy interior. The barman took Harry’s order for drinks and the house daily special meal, today’s was steak and kidney pie and mash, perfect, a taste of home as well. He casually enquired of the man if there was an establishment selling wands in the vicinity as he claimed that his daughter had jumped on his by accident and had snapped it.

“Bloody bad luck there, mate. No, there’s no-one selling wands here, you need to go to Meriweathers in Perth for wands I know they keep a large stock but for obvious reasons they can’t do mail order. If you bust your wand on this side of the planet, mate, then you have to go a bloody long way to replace it. Are you new to Australia, mate, only I don’t recall seeing you and your companions hereabouts?”

Harry smiled at the man, “If you think you are badly served for magical ephemera here then you should try where we come from, Wellington in New Zealand. There’s a couple of shops in Auckland but that’s it. You are much better provided for than we are. Bugger. I didn’t want to have to go all that way”, he feigned exasperation.

The barman made a sympathetic face and poured their drinks for them. Harry was treating his companions to their first taste of butterbeer, he had ordered a firewhisky for his husband and he was having a pumpkin juice. He levitated a tray over to their table wandlessly and dished the beverages out, “Here you go, chaps, a taste of wizarddom. I don’t think I would have survived school without this juice and butterbeer”.

Julia and Jon took cautious sips. Jon then tipped his head back for a longer swallow, “Mmm, not bad, a little sweet for me, reminds me of one of the Dutch lagers. Not very potent alcoholically is it?” Harry shook his head, “Nope, you can drink gallons of the stuff and your bladder would explode before you got pissed on it so kids are allowed to drink it”. Julia disliked it, pulling a face before pushing the bottle away from her, “Yuck, too sweet. That’s nasty”. Harry offered her a sip of his juice to take the taste away, “Oh, this is nice, very refreshing”.

Severus stepped up to the bar and ordered her one plus another firewhisky for himself, he wanted to be mildly inebriated for the flight back. Sod it, he knocked that one back and ordered another. He wanted a look in the potions shop too while they were here. He felt the familiar pulling down of his eyelids and smiled as he paid for the drinks. The barman winking at him.

Lunch was soon served and was satisfactory for all. Severus found reasons for going to the bar, another whisky each time. Harry noticed and shook his head, perhaps his lover hadn’t really enjoyed the helicopter ride and was dreading the return journey. It looked like it from where Harry was sitting.

He saw Severus detour to the bar again after a trip to the loo. He came up behind him and muttered, “We can always Apparate back, you know”. Severus turned and was suddenly very close to his beloved. He gasped and narrowed his eyes at their proximity. Harry held his gaze, looking over the tops of his glasses frames so Severus got the full force of the green stare. Severus placed the glass back on the bar not noticing if it was safe or not, his whole attention on Harry. They both gulped, dying to give in to the impulse to kiss but instead shared blisteringly hot looks, then broke the gaze and blushed slightly, giving each other shifty glances. They went back to the table together.

Harry relayed the bad news to Julia, she wasn’t going to find a wand today. They decided to explore the other shops though after dinner.

Severus was quite a while in the apothecary’s shop while Harry took the others off to explore. Julia was fascinated by the pet shop and they spent a while there. Julia wanted one of everything but was talked out of it by her brother. They took a trip across the road into the bookshop and were initially nonplussed, “We need more books”, Jon hissed under his breath, “But we haven’t got this wizarding cash stuff”. Harry grinned and pointed to the notice behind the counter, the one that said they took dollars as well as wizarding cash. Jon and his sister breathed a sigh of relief and lost themselves in the stacks.

When Severus joined him, Harry was sitting in the window seat of the bookshop, the others still busy. He felt a brief kiss on his neck and knew none of the staff were looking. He turned and swiftly kissed his husband’s lips before they became all respectable again, “The others are looking at books”, he stated simply. Both knew that Hermione had been sending these two books for about eighteen months now and that both of them had read every one of them and were still thirsty for knowledge. They eventually emerged from the stacks with an armful each.

“This place is brilliant” was Julia’s assessment as she dumped another stack on the cash desk. “I want to buy Hermione something to say thank you for all the stuff she’s sent us over all this time. What do you think she’d like? I know she’s into books”. Harry grinned, “Well, this isn’t the best stocked shop on the planet and Hermione has probably either got or at least read most of the stuff in here. Do you know what I reckon she’d really like?” Julia shook her head, her expression one of total admiration for the woman who had been a long distance mentor for so long. Harry laughed, “Send her the DVD’s of your series. All of them. If she’s not into them then her kids will be”. Julia was shocked, “Really?” Harry grinned, “She loves creativity, and we don’t have your programmes in England. They’ve never been shown. It would be a really personal gift to her, especially if you send the versions that you have: you know, the ones with the commentary on. She’d love that. Sign them just for her”.

Julia was thoughtful as she paid in Australian currency. Harry had a point and Hermione’s letters always asked about their own lives. She seemed to like the gossipy letters that Julia had sent. So it was decided. When she was back in the square she had her phone at her ear and was ordering the special cuts of the DVD’s, yelling a bit until she had her way before closing her phone with a smug grin at Harry. “On their way”, she murmured.

Severus was excited as he met up with them in the gardens at the centre of the square, “Harry! I’ve managed to get.....” and he reeled off a list of obscure ingredients. Harry grinned. His lover was happy. “We need to get this stuff back to where I can refrigerate it in the not too distant future”, Severus continued, his eyes alight. “The apothecary is really good here. I think he is one of the other masters. I want to meet him as me”, he said.

Harry was instantly unsure, “I don’t want anyone to know we’re here, love”. Severus’ face dropped, “I know, lover, but this man is another such as myself, another Master...” his voice tailed off as he saw the uncertainty in Harry’s eyes. Gathering Harry briefly into his arms, Severus muttered, “All right, I’ll pass on this one”.

To ameliorate the obvious disappointment pouring off his husband, Harry murmured, “You have his address now. Maybe you could write to him, get a correspondence going, something like that. Share ideas and so forth. Perhaps arrange to meet in the future, all is not lost, love, though I’m sorry to foil your plans for now”. Severus shook his head, “It’s all right, Harry. I appreciate the secrecy under which we travel and I would do nothing to compromise our security, you know that, it’s just so tempting...”, his voice trailed away.

Harry was thoughtful a moment, “I know what you mean. Sometimes I hate all this subterfuge. Why can’t we just be ourselves? Us? In our own world? Though I have a feeling that I wasn’t born for normality sometimes”, he sighed audibly, “There are times I wish I was someone else or that I could somehow use a time-turner and go all the way back to being tiny again and do the whole lot all over again, make it so that ‘Harry Potter’ never existed, just Harry Potter, if you know what I mean. No prophesies, no fame, no Voldy, just li’l ol’ me, and you, able to go about our lives like we do out here without worrying that we would be mobbed or worse. I bloody hate my fame”, he spat vehemently.

Severus continued to hold him but now at arms length, “D’you think that if I had the chance, I wouldn’t do the same for myself, no Death Eaters, no Voldy, no daft decisions, just me, you and my love of potions travelling from magical community to magical community. I hate my notoriety, lover, every bit as much as you hate your fame, but what is, is and there’s sod all anyone can do about it”.

The other two watched this exchange warily from a distance not wanting to intrude but fully understanding their dilemma. Jon cautiously suggested, “That’s the price of being in the public eye whether you wanted it or not. I never thought that Jules and I would become famous. I would have been just as happy to have been in a jobbing band, you know? Release a few singles, make a few albums that garner critical acclaim, make a few cognoscenti happy, cater to a sophisticated audience that would ask intelligent questions of you and not have the braying mob trying to get a piece of you at every turn. At some of the publicity junkets that we have to attend as part of our contract we actually have folk trying to cut bits off our clothes and Julia had to get the police involved when some weirdo tried to cut off her hair. We get marriage proposals, dirty letters from perverts and all sorts. Everywhere we go we get screaming girls following us around baring their tits at me. It’s strange what fame does to your fans”, he shuddered delicately.

Harry and Severus broke apart and smiled ruefully at their young friends, who, like Harry, had been made famous when young, and still had a hard time accepting it. “May I ask, why you went into this in the first place if the idea of fame is so odious to you? After all, you have sort of brought this on yourselves”.

Julia grinned, “Well, yes, in a way we did, although at the time we had no idea it would get this big. We were just a jobbing band making CDs and building a fanbase on-line but in the way of these things we got ourselves a major recording contract, at the time we thought it was wonderful, the pinnacle of achievement for any band, but we didn’t know of all the ramifications at the time, not until the record company had their hooks well and truly embedded in us. It’ll be another year before we can consider release from our contracts. It can’t come too soon to my way of thinking”, she made a face.

“Don’t get me wrong, the income is way cool and once we aren’t bound any more then we will be able to make our own music, just like you going into business for yourself, Severus. More risk, harder work and no knowing if people actually want or need your product. Our initial fame could work two ways in this regard. Either we fade away ‘cos all the squealing girlies still want us to be this surfer dude band and they’ll all hate the new music that we’ve been writing preparing for the day when we are freed or we can build on the back of it and our public will let us grow as musicians, though I rather suspect the former rather than the latter. At least with the manager we have, we have been advised well and have been making investments with our earnings so if it all fades away then we won’t starve at any rate”.

Severus and Harry smiled wryly at these words. Severus had echoes of a much younger Harry ringing in his head and thought the two in front of him had the same sense of resignation about it all. Too-old heads on too-young shoulders. The odd bout of petulance at the unfairness of it all then a squaring of those shoulders as the burden is lowered upon them, a steely glare or two of defiance before accepting the new yoke with stoicism and a degree of equanimity, salvaging whatever fun and laughs could be had from the wreck of previously obscure lives thrust harshly into sudden limelight. Hearing it all from these youngsters made Severus understand his husband that bit better.

Sighing, the two elder wizards shrunk the parcels of their young friends and they continued the tour. The atmosphere lightened considerably when Julia declared that she wanted some robes, “I may be a crap witch with little or no power but I still want to look the part. Do I get a pointy hat too?” Severus and Harry had a flash of memory at those very same words from Sammy and both wondered how their friends were faring in London.

They all trooped into the robe shop and soon Julia was tutting over the vast pile of cloth heaped around her. Jon muttered, “Never go clothes shopping with girls, they try on every damn thing then buy the first thing they tried on, makes no sense to me”. Severus had to agree. Harry pouted, “Oh, I don’t mind going shopping with the girls at home and I get a slap-up meal for my efforts. It’s a bit of a laugh actually”. Jon rolled his eyes, “Yeah, well, no offence, but you’re a pouf, you’ve probably got more style in your little finger than most girlies will ever have. I bet you get invited along so they don’t waste their money buying something hideous that they’ll never wear”.

Harry didn’t know whether to be insulted or not at this blatant assumption but stayed quiet. In fact he would volunteer to accompany them just for the laugh of spending a day with his girlie mates. Ah, well, perhaps it was his inner pouf that made him enjoy these days out so much.

Julia eventually settled for a set of deep red robes with an under robe of palest grey and another of peacock blue silk with an under robe of deepest navy. The little seamstress bustling around her sized them to her magically and she walked out with her parcel under her arm shortly afterwards pleased as Punch.

They finished their trip with a last visit to the tiny Honeydukes, all four of them stocking up on a variety of sweeties. Harry murmured, “Watch out for the Bertie Bott’s every flavour beans. When they say ‘every flavour’ they bloody mean it, like vomit or earwax”. Jon called him over, “What do these sweets do?” He had in his hands a small bag of Ton-Tongue Toffee, the WWW glyph on the box a bit faded. Harry laughed aloud, “These are joke sweets, turn your tongue huge and make it weigh, literally, a ton. They’re made by some very good friends of mine in London and I’ve seen their products here and in Auckland. It’ll chuff them no end to know that, they leave the distribution to a company they employ so they may not be aware of how far their own goods have travelled. Never eat anything with that logo on it, not if you know what’s good for you, the Weasley twins are the ultimate pranksters and have built a most un-jokey empire out of jokes and pranks”. Jon nodded wisely and put the sweets back on the shelf.

They reluctantly left the small wizarding district as the time was approaching when they had to get back to the studio building to meet up with the pilot again and neither Jon nor Julia were divas about keeping people waiting but not before Severus had dipped into the bar again, emerging with a few dusty bottles of Old Ogden’s firewhisky and a grin.

Back on the Mundane side Harry de-transfigured the wizards’ appearances but left Jon and Julia still glamorised and the two thoroughly enjoyed the stroll through the city taking the long route back to the studio building just enjoying the freedom to wander along completely incognito under their black glasses.

This time, Harry insisted that Severus sit where he had on the journey there and in fact Severus actually felt better on the return trip preferring to see where he was going. The two young musicians were asleep by the time they touched down again in the compound and Harry and Severus were flagging as they had done the equivalent of pulling an all-nighter. They thanked Pete the pilot and Julia pulled the man to one side for a whispered consultation before he took to the skies once more.

“What was that about, sis?”, her brother enquired. Julia grinned, “He says in a week he can borrow the plane to take us to Perth, it’s too far in the chop and we’ll have to stay a night there”. She tentatively approached their new friends, “I don’t suppose you guys could stay another week do you? Only I’d love your help in Perth”.

How could they refuse? “Of course we will”, Harry replied enthusiastically, “But after that, I think we want to get off and explore Australia. I’m probably going to have to spend a couple of days at Josh’s yard in any case as there’s a few things I need to do to Bessie, so it’s not a problem for me. Sev, how do you feel about staying on a while longer, love?”

Severus smiled, “Oh, I think I can find a few things to do, maybe teach young Julia here a thing or two about potions making perhaps while we wait to see if we can find her a wand, that is if you would like a few lessons my dear?” Julia beamed, “Sounds good to me. Thanks guys. But for now, I think I want to order in some food then crash out. I’m exhausted”. A sentiment shared by them all.

Lying side by side on their bed, Harry and Severus were finding it difficult to sleep. The odd hours that they had been keeping now rendered them wide awake as indeed it should have, it being only early teatime, but their body clocks were all skew-whiff and they were restive. Severus suggested a swim to tire them out and Harry agreed with alacrity.

They slipped out of their room via the sliding window, towels and a blanket slung over or around shoulders. Severus shrank a bottle of Ogden’s Old and a couple of glasses placing them carefully in the pockets of his shorts and they started off hand in hand. As they cleared the overhang of the floor above, Severus pulled Harry to him for a serious kiss that deepened quickly tugging small noises from the back of their throats as arms tightened about each of them. Drawing away slightly, Harry kept an arm around Severus’ waist and nuzzled into the shoulder of the arm around his shoulders as they continued on and into the trees.

They were observed as they left.

Jon stood in the study space above them. One forearm rested on the glass, his forehead resting on that as he looked down at the slow progress of his guests. His other hand held a long-necked beer bottle from which he took the occasional sip. A warm hand in his lower back made him start slightly, his sister.

“Hot, aren’t they?”, she murmured. Jon raised his head and looked at her before resuming his position, “Dunno about that but I do envy them for some reason”. Julia grinned and moved away a fraction swigging from her own drink, “I think it’s their power, it just shines out of them. It’s as if Severus is fully conscious of his own but Harry seems quite ignorant of the effect he has on others. It’s kinda sweet actually”. Jon huffed out a laugh, “I bet Severus is the top in that relationship, all that dark brooding stuff he projects”. It was his sister’s turn to laugh, “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I catch Severus looking at him sometimes and the man is so besotted with his husband, almost as if he can’t quite believe his luck in landing such a man and Harry is obviously much more in tune with the whole non-magical thing. I suspect that our Byronic poet-type was entirely a magical until he hooked up with our ingenue there. I bet Harry’s had to teach him everything about the real world”, her voice was quiet.

“Bah! You girls talk such bollocks sometimes”, he grinned at her but she shook her head, “Nope, you guys have no idea just how much us girls see, dude. I’ll bet you twenty, no, a hundred dollars that there’s no ‘top’ or ‘bottom’ between them. Our Harry is an egalitarian and I bet it extends to sex”. Jon glared at her in disbelief, “What nonsense. It’s obvious, older guy, taller, too. I bet Severus is the top. Anyhow how will we ever find out?” At this, Julia howled laughing, “I have my ways, brother of mine, I have my ways. But for now, I’m off to bed. Coming?” “Nah, I’m just gonna finish me beer first. Go ahead. See you later”. He blew her a kiss and she left him to his contemplation.

Unaware of the scrutiny, Harry and Severus continued on to the pool slowly, the only sound the flap flap of Harry’s rubber flip-flops against his feet as he walked and the occasional riffle of the evening breeze in the trees around them. As the evening was still warm, Severus dived straight into the water beginning his customary thrash up and down the pool. Harry watched for a moment, his head tipped to one side, a slight smile on his face. Egads, his man was gorgeous and completely unselfconscious in the water, powering up and down the length of the pool without a care in the world, eating up the laps.

Sighing and coming back to himself, Harry kicked off his sandals, stripped off his t-shirt and began his series of stretches and crunches. Since that day in New Zealand, each had tried to do an hour’s workout of some sort every day. It was too soon to see much difference but already Harry was starting to feel looser in the back and legs and kicked himself frequently for letting himself get so lax about his fitness, a thing he’d always been proud of.

He was lost in the movements as he began a series of spins and kicks. Severus watched from the far end of the pool relatively unobserved since Harry had removed his glasses. He breathed deeply at the sight of his husband as he put his luscious body through it’s paces. Harry was truly beautiful in movement, his gestures light and compact. Severus slowly swam back to watch from closer quarters.

Harry caught sight of him, “See anything you like?”, he smirked as he lost his concentration and staggered from a kick slightly. Severus sniggered, “Oh, yes”, in a voice that made Harry’s insides melt. Harry dropped gracefully to the edge of the pool dangling his feet in. His beloved swam to him, parted his knees and stood between them, “Well, I can’t swim in this state”, he purred as he wound wet arms around Harry. Harry responded by kissing him and pressing his hot body against the coolness of Severus’ wet one. Severus wasn’t the only one with a less-than-small problem.

They ground together until Severus dragged Harry into the pool but this time slowly and sexily, sliding their bodies together making them both moan into each other’s mouths. “Bloody hell, Sev, I’ll get no exercise like this you randy git”. This made Severus rumble with low laughter as he tightened his hold on his beloved, “Well, isn’t sex supposed to be an excellent form of exercise?”. Harry rolled his eyes and dived back into the willing mouth of his lover, “Gods you are making me so fuckin’ horny, love, let’s get back then I want to eat you alive”.

Severus made no reply just yanked down Harry’s shorts underwater and they were stepped out of immediately. He steered Harry back to the edge of the pool and lifted him under his arse until he was sitting on the edge again. He pushed his chest slightly so Harry was forced to lean back on his hands then took Harry’s eager cock into his mouth and started to suck. Harry threw his head back, his lower lip gripped between his teeth, his eyes squeezed shut. He was so aroused and spiralling towards release too quickly. He reluctantly pushed Severus away before taking his husband’s head between his palms and kissing him senseless, tasting himself on his lover’s tongue.

“Not like this, babe, want to taste you too. Come on, get out, I wanna suck you at the same time without drowning”. He stood shakily extending a hand down to haul his lover from the water then spread the blanket and wrestled Severus down on to it, the two of them rolling about sliding wet cocks together and laughing. Harry tipped Severus onto his back straddling his head, his knees wide apart and was pulled closer as he tipped his body forward to strip his lover’s shorts off then claim his own prize.

He contemplated Severus’ delicious length from close up, knowing well every vein and bump. Sucking two fingers into his mouth he set to work, parting Severus’ thighs as he lowered his mouth over that thick hard length. He heard a groan from beneath him as he parted the firm cheeks and plunged his fingers into his lover’s clutching hole as he sucked him. Severus’ legs splayed wantonly and he used a foot planted on the ground for leverage pushing upwards to be engulfed in Harry’s hot mouth.

He spread his lover’s arse above him and dove in with his tongue causing Harry to make a high-pitched shriek around his own cock that sent a frisson straight to his balls. With one hand in Harry’s back to steady him, he used the other to slowly wank him in time to the strong suction being applied to himself and was in suck heaven as he was sucked and finger-fucked. He could tell by the clenching of Harry’s hole around his tongue that his lover wasn’t going to last but he didn’t care as they both rode the high to it’s inevitable conclusion, Harry gushing out thick ribbons of jism over his chest and belly mere seconds before he shot down Harry’s eager throat.

Harry rolled off after collecting his breath for a few moments before turning to lick up the mess he had made, feeding it to his lover as a post triste banquet that they both shared, their commingled tastes on their tongues, gathered up into strong arms as they held each other in the afterglow just relishing the peace and the closeness.

Did they but know it, they were still being watched.

Off in the woods, hidden by the thick undergrowth, Jon was standing, his jeans around his ankles, beating off to the sight before him. He stuffed a fist in his mouth as he came copiously over his hand, spurts hitting the grass at his feet. He had intended only to come and join his guests for a swim but once he saw what they were up to had been unable to tear his eyes away. Jules was right, these two were indeed hot as fuck for two older guys. He leaned back against the tree getting his racing breaths under control again before shakily doing himself up again. He had had the better view of Harry’s ministrations to Severus and had to admit that his sis was right again, Severus certainly seemed to like being fucked if the eagerness with which he had moved on Harry’s thrusting fingers was anything to go by. Forgoing any contact now, as soon as his legs were in working order again he crept back to the house, confused.

When did the sight of two men together turn him on so much? Did this make him queer? He hoped not but had to admit it had looked like fun all the same. This much he knew now, girls were nowhere like this good at blowies and some part of him wanted a guy to blow him like that, preferably in the near future. He wondered if his guests ‘shared’. He wasn’t sure if he fancied the taller guy but Harry was cute in a way. His dreams were very disturbing that night, he came at least twice in his sleep if the damp patches and the way the sheets stuck to him were any indication.

His guests knew nothing of all this and lay, sated and glowing, wrapped in the blanket, sipping from glasses of Ogden’s and kissing, talking quietly into the gathering dusk. Tired now, they made everything tidy again and wended their way back to the house, arms wrapped around each other the blanket draped around both of them. They fell into bed, curled together and were asleep soon afterwards.

With body clocks so askew, they woke again in the early hours of the morning and crept into the kitchen for a snack, Harry knocking together cheese on toast while Severus made hot chocolate with milk. They carried their munchies back with them and had a picnic in the middle of their bed before clearing the plates to one side and rolling together again, making slow love to each other in the dark, Severus’ legs slung around Harry’s waist as he was taken, his depths plumbed by Harry’s eager cock until they both made noise as they came with passion-swollen lips and sloppy tongues, Severus crying out loudly as he came between them exhorting Harry to go, “Faster, harder. Oh gods, yesssss....” that triggered the younger man’s orgasm that ripped through him a single shouted, “Sev!” escaping as he filled his love with hot seed.

They had a different observer this time. Julia had a ‘thing’ about watching, her eye pressed to a tiny crack between the floorboards. She sat up red-faced but giggling softly to herself, Severus was a bottom after all. She hugged the knowledge to her as she climbed into her bed in her steel box and took care of herself as quietly as she could. She really should remind these guys to do the ‘silencing charm’ thing.

But not yet.....not yet.