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

Thank you Auntbecky for your kind comments and I hope you enjoy the rest of it. I too cannot believe I've had over 700 readers and only 1 comment, so, please, guys, rate and comment. I know that this beginning bit is a bit exposition top-heavy but there's quite a lot of scene to set before getting down to the meat of the tale. However, here's more meat!!

2 more chappies. Yay!

Enjoy! The Squig

7

They made for the coast again and found a villa to rent on a quiet bit of coast away from the main ‘costas’ for a few weeks to try and get some of the fun back but neither could forget the awful things they had seen in that forest clearing. Severus did a lot of talking and grieving as he finally told Harry of all the things he had suffered at the hands of the Death-Eaters and the personal sufferings he had endured as a spy. The rapes of both mind and body, the pain of being affiliated to such evil and the real reason he had sought Dumbledore’s protection all those years ago. “It makes me want to run back to the safety of Hogwarts all over again”. Harry tentatively asked if he wanted to go back to England and Severus was quite adamant, “No, Harry. I enjoy my freedom, and until this happened, I, too, was having the time of my life but I still need to expunge this part of my life from my conscience”. He related the particularly vicious Death-Eater gathering that had finally turned him, sickeningly, away from the dark and back to the light and the errors in judgement that had led him to the dark side in the first place. They spent a lot of time holding and comforting each other, making desperate love in the dark and clinging to each other feeding each other love and reassurance where they could, listening and talking of the evils that had beset them that even their previous partners had not known the full particulars of.

It was during this time that they realised, somewhat reluctantly, and not without a little guilt, that they meant more to each other then they had to their previous partners. They kept nothing back from each other. “Drae was always spooked when I talked of it all. It had taken his dad after all”. Severus nodded, “Rem was always trying to change the subject. Trying to get me off the topic of what had gone on during my days as a Death-Eater, even though I desperately needed to talk of it at times. He was too sensitive, bless him. I know it’s not good to speak ill of the dead, but maybe you and I are better suited than we were with Draco and Remus, though it hurts some to say that”, Severus folded into his lover’s arms and Harry just held him and agreed totally, albeit reluctantly, but he and Severus were really perfect together.

Much as they had loved their previous partners and wanted to spend their lives with them, the current arrangement was far more apt as both ruefully admitted before falling on each other and fucking for Britain in every room in the villa, over every surface that would hold their combined weight. Their sadness released something in them and they grew experimental in their loving, finally revealing their deepest fantasies to each other. Severus coyly expressed a desire to be tied, bound, but gently, and Harry complied, spreading his beloved below him and fastening him to the four corners of the bed, before fucking him senseless and giving his lover what Severus declared to be the best series of climaxes that he had ever had. Harry in his turn, professed an interest in wearing tight ladies undies and they outfitted him in white lace that Severus had to admit, seeing it stretched across Harry’s pert arse, drove him wild, ploughing into his kinky lover dressed in white lace basque and skimpy boy-shorts-style knickers on his knees, his arse in the air as he was fucked to an eye-rollingly explosive climax that actually made him pass out.

~~~~~~~~~WS (mention, mild)~~~~~~~~~~~~

They grew even more perverted as Harry was asked to soundly spank Severus which both enjoyed. They drifted into darker waters as Harry begged Severus to come all over him then piss on him and Harry wanked himself furiously as the hot stream played over his body. They experimented with a plethora of new toys, cock rings and butt plugs, that Harry insisted on inserting into both of them before long drives, the suspension of the vehicle forcing them deeper with the jouncing about on Spain’s b-roads until they had to hastily pull into lay-bys and fuck each other senseless as they exorcised the worst of their memories in mind-blowing sex. They had both admitted to each other that their former lovers were a bit vanilla in that department, even though the four had ‘shared’ on many occasions, but they loved nothing more than to drive to somewhere quiet and fuck under the stars with a crackling little fire as the only accompaniment.

It was after one such that Severus murmured, “Harry, I love you more than life itself. It should have always been me and you”, and he finally admitted what Draco had told Harry, that he had been in love with him for so long and Harry answered, “I know, lover, me too, but Drae needed me after his father was given the ‘kiss’. He was always so fragile at his core, like he could be easily broken. He really was spun glass. I even kept my wild hair short for him. I really loved him but I always felt I had to protect him”. Severus sighed and nodded, “Despite Rem being a vicious beast once a month, he was so sweet and kind the rest of the time. Like you, I felt I had to protect him. Look after him. Make no mistake, I really loved him, but I don’t have to protect you, not beyond what we had to do to defeat Voldemort and I was and still am to have fought him in the way we did. You are my equal, Harry, and you always have been. Here we are, two alpha males, and it is wonderful. I thought I was lucky to have one love in my life, but now I have you and, if I am honest, then my whole life to date has been leading up to this. I couldn’t have handled this, I think, if it had been me and you to start with. Does that make any sense?” Harry nodded and held his love close, “More than you realise, you perverted darling. Now come here and kiss me like you mean it”.

As they emerged for air, Severus ran his hand through Harry’s hair. “This mop is a complete mess and I love it. I like that you are growing it out”, and Harry smiled an abandoned smile at the fingers raking through it, letting his head tip back and showing his delight on his face before carding Severus’ not inconsiderable mane, clutching at hanks as he was kissed thoroughly and wantonly, “Keep yours long, baby, trim it but never cut it, promise me”, and Severus grinned, “Would you like me to grow the wizardly face furniture to go with it?” to see Harry wince, “No, erm, please, no beard. No muzzie either. I used to find Remus’ a bit off-putting, truth be told”. They laughed. Severus chortled, “I know, I tried to convince him to shave off that damned moustache but he liked it and what do you do when you’re in love with someone?” He shrugged eloquently and Harry laughed.

They made love on the sand in the dark with just the stars watching and Severus fulfilled one of Harry’s dark fantasies kneeling over him and wetting him thoroughly before they dived into the incoming tide and cleaned up before heading back to the villa twined together and showered the salt and sand from them then Harry replied by tying his lover to the bedframe and fucking him senseless. Both agreed in the afterglow that sex had never been like this before, so all-encompassing, so sweet and so damned perverted and they revelled in the new knowledge that was growing between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WS (end)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had regular confabs with Harry’s, no, both of their, friends. There was to be a delegation sent from Britain to the annual Wizarding conference in Spain to be held in Barcelona in a few weeks time. Harry and Severus both agreed to be there as the Spanish authorities were still dragging their heels much like the British Ministry had when faced with the return of Voldemort. They were headed to Barcelona at any rate so that Harry could see the Art left behind by many of his favourite artists, Dali, Picasso and Miro. Hermione’s jerky face tipped to one side as she regarded the lovers so many miles away over the webcam hook-up and declared that she had never seen either of them so happy. Severus laughed, “I’ve never been this happy before, not have I had this much sex”, as he leaned in and kissed Harry who responded enthusiastically, then they both looked into the camera, sated, grinning, tanned and Hermione felt a bit jealous. She sighed and asked, “How do you fight twenty four years, three kids, and marriage bed-death?”, she enquired bluntly. Harry giggled, “Take him over your knee one night. Use the flat of your hand or a slipper to start with. If anyone looks like he needs a good spanking, then it’s Nev”. Hermione’s laughter was a joy to hear, the last thing before they closed the connection.

Severus grabbed him and kissed him, “Oh you corruptor, you”, he purred before being turned over Harry’s lap and soundly whacked with the flat of Harry’s hand before he spent himself down Harry’s leg with a loud cry, then was requested to “Suck me, you bastard, let me fuck your mouth”, and he obliged, loving the new element to their sex lives as Harry thrust into his throat mercilessly nearly cutting off the air supply as he came shrieking, Severus’ throat constricting around the head of his cock as he swallowed all of his offerings before licking him clean.

They took their sweet time getting to Barcelona but were still there in time for the conference convened just before Easter. Harry gave a film show with the evidence he had collected. The picture quality wasn’t that good but it was obviously not a bunch of kids playing hallowe’en dress-up nor yet a coven of elderly quasi-witches playing at an earth ceremony. There was real pain and torture here. Severus winced and turned from the pictures, the sounds of the screams, tinny and trebly through the speakers.

This silenced the Spanish contingent who finally had to admit that there was real trouble on their doorsteps. Granted, some still tried to deny the evidence before them but there were sympathetic murmurs from around the room and the Spanish Minister of Magic was not a bumbling fool like old Fudge. He asked the name rather ostentatiously of the man who had provided the evidence before them and Harry stood up. “Me llamo Harry Potter”, he replied in ringing tones. At this the room collectively gasped, then all started to talk at once. Harry sat down rather hard, “Well what’s the use of my damn fame if I can’t use it now and again”, he asided to the British delegation. Severus squeezed his arm and Harry leant against him, suddenly tired. The debate raged for several hours until Harry and Severus excused themselves and made their way back to the house that they had rented on the outskirts of the city, just along the coast.

They had an hour’s peace and quiet before the hordes descended. They entertained the British delegation for a few hours then the rest left, leaving Ron and Oliver snd Hermione and Neville who had been invited to stay with them. They settled them into their rooms then Severus whipped up a paella for everyone and Harry handed out the cold cans and the evening became quite convivial. Harry noticed Oliver’s receding hairline, the rounded belly that Neville sported these days, the grey in Ron’s short bristly hair, the slight stoop in Hermione’s posture. “God, we’re all getting old”, he thought and wondered how they perceived him. Neville giggled after a few beers, “Time has been kind to you, Harry. I feel quite decrepit beside you. You too, Severus. This trip has taken years off both of you”. Harry glanced at his lover and had to agree. Their skin was tanned and glowing. They were fit again due to their hiking and energetic sex and the pain that both had worn on their faces during the final years of their lovers’ lives was now gone to be replaced by the glow of new love, in short, they looked and felt amazing for the most part.

Before the delegation left for England, Severus and Harry and the inner circle were invited for dinner with the Minister who was clearly very concerned of the happenings within his own country. “There is a young fighter, a Spanish girl who is at present attending Beauxbatons. She is in her final year there and has been given all sorts of additional training to help her face this evil. There was a prophecy lodged about her in our own Department of Mysteries. Can you advise us on anything that we may be missing regarding her training since you so capably defeated the last Dark Lord?” The discussion was serious but lively. Harry’s heart went out to the girl. “I was in the same position myself. A schoolkid who was expected to take on a beast. What is her name? I would like to write to her if I may?” The Minister accepted. “Her name is Graciela de Santos. She comes from an ancient wizarding family much like the family of Malfoy in your country, I believe. Unfortunately, it is her own uncle that she must kill to rid us of this menace, her father’s brother”.

This was certainly an eye-opener and no mistake. Harry breathed out slowly, “Bugger”, he whispered. “At least I wasn’t a damned relative of his”, he said aloud. “Does she bear a mark of some sort, much like the scar that Voldemort gave me the night that my parents were killed?”, he pushed back his hair to reveal the faint white line of his own scar on his forehead. The Minister nodded, “Si, she has a birthmark very similar to the brand that he uses to mark his followers. We have analysed the pictures that you gave to us and he uses the ‘crossed bones’ mark”, he patted the back of his right shoulder, “Here, her birthmark is here. Her mother was attacked while she carried her daughter. She survived the attack but lost her mind after she gave birth to the child and has been in an institution ever since. Poor child, to have to live under such an onerous threat. This is no way for a child to live. I imagine that your own childhood was equally blighted, Senor Potter”. Harry nodded and his heart went out to the girl.

Severus leaned into the Minister and murmured urgently for the need for Occlumency and Dark Arts defence training, the Minister taking in every word. “It shall be done, Senor Snape, and we are profoundly grateful for your advice. We shall not ignore this now we are fully cognisant, quite unlike the Minister of Magic in your times, you have my assurances. This man has not been operating for very long if our intelligence is correct, but he already has a following in Germany which you British are already keeping an eye on I believe?”. Harry nodded. “Don’t keep things from her. Show her the pictures. Run the videos for her, she needs all the information she can get about her enemy. My old headmaster saw fit to try and shield me from the truth because I was still underage, but Mr Snape here decided to go against his boss and informed me of what I needed to know. She must not be kept in ignorance for fear of frightening her or some such. Does she have a confidant amongst her teachers?”

The Minister leaned in closer, so only the two of them could hear, “We have someone on the inside, a spy who teaches at her school that belongs to the main German group. There is no love lost between them but the teacher, a Frau Drescher, has her Dark Arts training in hand”. Harry grinned at his lover, “Sounds just like you and me, Sev”. He turned to the Minister, “Severus and I were enemies at school but without him, I could not have succeeded like I did”. The Minister flicked a glance between the two, “And now you are partners in life? Lovers, si?” Harry nodded, “This is only recent but we have been friends for many years now. Our previous partners died due to a curse that Voldemort cast in the Final Battle. We have yet to determine the nature of this curse but our Department of Mysteries is still working on it. It acts a bit like AIDS in the body but is a cast curse, we think, not a transmittable disease”.

The Minister was all concern at this, “This is as I feared. I would like for our respective departments to share this information if at all possible. Anything that gives us an advantage over his evil will be a great help to us all”, he sighed, “We are never rid of evil and it keeps showing it’s ugly face every few generations. I fear that we get rid of this one and another pops up somewhere else and all we can do is fight it whenever it comes along. Times are sad, but with your help and that of your country, we can stop this one before the rot spreads too far”. Severus asked, “How many followers does this beast have? Do you have any ideas?”

The man sighed heavily, “Even one such acolyte is too many but we suspect near to five hundred followers. Frau Drescher travels to meetings in both countries. We are afraid that the German Minister is also one of his followers so not much is being done in his country, not enough anyway, to stem the tide, and the pull of pure race still holds sway there. Many remember Senors Hitler, Franco and Mussolini from a previous generation and the fascismo of the Second World War. There are many magical people who are still convinced that the three were wizards with their abilities to sway huge crowds at their evil rallies and these three countries have a history of this in the not too distant past, within living memory, so there may be more followers than we realise. It is very difficult”.

Harry’s eyes widened slightly as he took this in. If this was the case then the new Dark Lord probably had many more sycophants than even the Minister realised and the situation for Western Europe could be a lot worse than at first perceived although he said nothing at this point but he felt doubly sorry for the poor girl charged with his destruction.

Harry was glum in the taxi on the way back to the villa and Severus didn’t press him until they were all inside. Hermione was in shock as Harry related the sotto voce conversation that they had had with the Minister. “Shit!”, was her considered opinion when informed, then proceeded to give the pure Magicals amongst them a brief run-down of the rise of fascism in the nineteen thirties and the causes of the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War.

They all paled before this. “I think the situation is a damn sight worse than anything we had back in Blighty, chaps, but having said that, there’s also a much stronger system of resistance in place. Although I don’t think that the Spanish Minister is a toadying fool like Fudge, I think he has an idea of the long reach of history. Many of the folk here are direct descendants of the fascists. The British situation was a mere skirmish compared to this. This could be all-out war. In Britain, we are cut off a bit, due to our island status and not many were involved from other countries but this could be a serious catastrophe for more than just us Magicals. Most of the Death-Eaters still sympathetic to Voldemort were rounded up after the Battle, but, just like the Nazis, many escaped and I expect that many ended up over here fomenting their own brand of fascism. Think about it, the blood purity, the ascension of the landed and titled over the peasantry and it is well known that both the Italians and the Germans formed secret ‘occult’ societies and allied themselves to various groups promoting magical origins to excuse the killing of millions of people. It rather makes Voldemort look a complete fucking amateur by comparison and despite the authorities attempts to curb or wipe out these groups they still flourish today, in secret, like they always did, made up of high-placed businessmen, religious folk and the aristocracy all with their own agendas. It’s bloody scary. I need to do some research”, she finished, harried, scraping her hands through her frowsy hair to silence from the rest of the group.

Harry rubbed tired eyes under his glasses, “So what you’re saying is this thing is miles bigger and more entrenched than anything we ever had back home?” Hermione nodded, “I suggest that we all need to bring ourselves up to speed on twentieth century Muggle and Magical history including the secret societies that exist today like the Freemasons, very active in Britain, Opus Dei in Italy and the Odinists in Germany plus any fascist societies that exist here in Spain. Some of these societies go back centuries like the Knights Templar, the Merovingians and those with ancient religious and mystical connections. Oh, Merlin, this could be the end of us all”, she subsided in tears to be held by her husband.

Harry had a thought, “I read somewhere that war criminals from the Third Reich escaped to Spanish speaking countries in South America and it was an ex-Nazi who developed the atom bomb”. Hermione nodded, “Not to mention right wing ‘survivalist’ racist groups in the United States and the neo-Nazis that are spread all around the countries in Eastern Europe. It sort of depends whether this latest madman is a one-off tinpot dictator type just serving his own agenda or whether he has associations and connections to these much older groups”. Harry sighed, “The Minister said de Santos was from an old family line dating back centuries. I don’t see how he cannot be or at least how he cannot know about all these other groups. Fuck, this is miles bigger than our homegrown fascist Voldemort”. The room fell silent as they tried to absorb the sheer scale of all this until Ron suggested they try and sleep on it for the night and see what the morning brought and they all drifted off to bed in couples.

Harry curled into a tight ball on their bed, completely overwhelmed by all of this and Severus could do no more than hold him as he shook, “Fuck, Sev, by killing Voldemort, did we just make it worse?”, he raged in low tones. Severus shook his head, “No, but I didn’t realise that so much sheer history was involved here. The atmosphere at Hogwarts made it all seem so small and insular, but he was just a small branch of a much bigger tapestry, wasn’t he?” Harry nodded and allowed himself to collapse against his beloved, “It could be World War Three here. I always thought that it would be played out between the Communists and the Capitalists, the West against the communists in Russia. It certainly seemed like that during the sixties and seventies but after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in the late eighties, then that threat was allayed for now, but have we just allowed the loonies to take over the damned asylum?”, he sighed heavily.

Neither slept well that night, the weight of history pressing down upon them. Harry murmured as the dawn rose, clear and pink, “This is no longer one person’s battle. This will involve whole states, religious groups, magical groups, fuck, just about all of us and none of us can ignore it. Whether we like it or not, Muggles will be involved in this along with us. Hitler tried to wipe out the whole of European Jewry for example even while Mussolini didn’t harm Italian Jews in the same way but all of these disparate groups have their own agendas and somewhere at the back of it all, I feel the hand of the Catholics who did more than any of the other groups to annihilate Magicals and who also just happen to be the wealthiest group of people on the earth. There was a reason why it was called the ‘Spanish’ inquisition. My head feels like it’s about to explode from all of this”. And suddenly Harry felt very small and insignificant in the face of it all.

At a subdued breakfast the next morning, Hermione asked Harry if he knew the name of the latest threat to the Magical world and Harry nodded, “He is called Guillermo de Santos and the prophesied person who is to fight him is his own niece, Graciela, currently a Beauxbatons student”. Hermione noted this down. They all looked grey and drawn this morning as Severus served them all breakfast which they barely touched. Ron expressed it the best when he exclaimed, “How the fuck are we supposed to proceed in the face of all this?” and his best girlfriend replied darkly, “Like we always have done, Ronnie-boy, one at a time, until we need to do more, though you may wish to inaugurate an army when you get back to London, that is, if anyone gives a fuck, though they probably won’t, given the insularity of the British wizarding population. So long as we can still shop in Diagon Alley and Hogsmead, then Britons are notoriously hard to rise to action as we all know and none of them will sacrifice their immediate comforts for the joylessness that is war on no more evidence than a shaky video and a few pictures. Damn them all. Who was it who said, ‘those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it?”, she sank her head in her hands. As a bright Muggle-trained witch and a voracious reader, Hermione probably had the best grip on the whole situation. She looked ten years older that morning.

They were readying themselves for departure in a sombre mood. Around the table, Hermione had assigned her fellow Aurors, being herself and Ron and Oliver to studying various fringe religious groups and Harry said he would keep his ear to the ground while they were still in Europe but that they still intended to continue with their travels. “We’ll check out the Italian angle a bit where we can as we planned to go on to Italy next after visiting Spain, then we’ll probably pack Bessie onto a container ship and continue to India and Nepal then I want to see Australia and New Zealand if we can, but we’ll stay in touch by whatever means possible. I’ve promised to send a letter to Graciela and I still intend to do this”. Hermione smiled at this, “Good one, Harry. A word from the last killer of a Dark Lord will probably give her hope and courage, though I wouldn’t mention the bigger picture if I were you. This is bigger than her, bless her. She needs to focus on the task at hand just like you did”. Harry nodded ruefully, “I can’t help feeling that this is like taking a piss in the ocean but one less is an achievement of sorts. If we can knock out one faction then it will help, I suppose”, although he didn’t sound too hopeful.

He ran them to the airport in Bessie a bit illegally as she was only road legal for a total of four whereas six travelled in her but they got there without mishap. They all hugged each other brought together by the enormity of the task at hand. Severus barely said a word but silently held each one of Harry’s friends and wished them Merlinspeed and good luck. Neville staggered onto the plane alongside his wife, “Fuck me, did I just get a hug from the man who has hated me for most of my adolescence? And am I glad to have him on our side?” Hermione giggled at her husband, “Oh, shut up, Neville”, was her only comment. Then she rejoined, “Severus Snape is a powerful warrior and a good man to have on our side in whatever capacity. Let’s face it, he’s put the smile back on Harry’s face even though he was a total git to the pair of you and now look, he obviously loves Harry to distraction and he knows less Muggle history than any of us. I suspect that this will be a steep learning curve for him and I also suspect that Harry will put him through his paces on that front. We have a lot to learn, all of us”, and with that, they boarded the plane.

They drove back to the villa slowly through the late rush-hour traffic and parked up in silence. Harry wanted to ask Severus so many things but the man had other ideas as they entered the, now, silent house and slammed Harry against a wall to kiss him senseless, and Harry capitulated as their tongues met and battled until Harry gentled it down a bit and withdrew, “No rough stuff, love. Make love to me. I want to feel you fill me but no pain. I think we’ll have our fill of that in the times to come. This may not be my fight but it will be our fight. All of us. All magicals everywhere if we want to preserve what we have and by all accounts, we have some mighty powerful enemies. This isn’t about a penny-ante Voldemort any more, I almost wish it was but this is bigger than any one of us. I feel for that poor girl who has to fight her own relative, her own family and wish it could be anything but for her...”, but he was silenced by Severus’ mouth covering and opening over his and he moaned into the kiss dissolving beneath Severus’ heated tongue and lips and let himself be led to bed.

But he couldn’t relax into the love-making being skittish and anxious until Severus stripped him and turned him over and massaged the knots from his shoulders and back. He heard the deep groans as his back was ironed out then the soft snores as his lover relaxed, and swore, “Bloody hell, Potter”, he exclaimed softly as he lay beside his sleeping lover, a hard-on fit to hammer nails laying atop his belly. He took care of himself trying for silence as he came but couldn’t stop the moan as he came into his hand before cleaning himself wandlessly and gathering his sleeping Harry to him and joining him in the land of nod.