Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Harco Empire	By : Toddy Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 34430 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or films. I do not make any money from the writing of this story, just enjoyment.

Chapter List
- 142
- 143
- 144
[Note: “x-x” = speech & ‘x-x’ = thoughts & *x-x* = telepathy & #x-x# Parseltongue]
CRUISING
~~~ TUESDAY 10^TH AUGUST ~~~
Remoulins: 13.00 – Avignon: 14.00
A walk back uphill to the carriages put an edge on their appetites, so as they returned slowly to Remoulins station they ate lunch. Despite a reversal, Remoulins to Avignon only took an hour, Siggy explained that the carriages would be rotated whilst they were away; being turned on a triangle of lines nearby. For most of the men the next part of the outing was going to be boring. Their spouses wanted to visit the glamorous shops; so the men-folk had to trail along in a show of solidarity. Harry was used to Draco’s shopping sprees, not moaning half as much as the other men, mainly because Draco always managed to find something that Harry liked. This time there were a number of silken body-hugging tee-shirts. Harry loved the freedom of movement they afforded; Draco loved the way in which they shimmered, showing off his lover’s torso. A number of the friends covertly bought presents for Ginevra’s forthcoming birthday.
The munificence of the Papal Palace impressed them, as did the industry of the people who built the original St Bénezet’s Bridge by hand. Even if there were only four arches out of the original twenty-two still standing. The others frowned at Draco when, in a fit of uncharacteristic enthusiasm, he twirled Harry round and started to sing: ‘Sur le Pont d’Avignon’.
They were due to stay the night at the station; so, just before dusk, they indulged in long showers, prior to going to Bokao’s. The dinner there was sumptuous and the music tempted everyone on to the floor. Even Harry was inveigled to dance by the other three Blakes; so he used the dance-me charm. Despite his initial protests he really enjoyed himself. At midnight the party burst into song, ‘Happy Birthday Dear Ginevra’ and the proprietor gave her a celebratory magnum of champagne for them to share. So it was well into the morning when the whole party dizzily pranced back to their mobile lodgings.
~~~ WEDNESDAY 11^TH AUGUST ~~~
Avignon: 06.00 - Marseille: 07.30
Marseille: 08.00 - Monaco: 11.00
The following morning the train departed whilst everyone was still soundly asleep; however, when the carriages stopped moving on the Marseille triangle they awoke from their torpor. Once the service train had departed their carriages followed on at a fairly leisurely pace. Briefly showered and lightly dressed on the move, the passengers gained the dining saloon just as the lines left the coast near Toulon. By the end of Ginevra’s birthday breakfast they had regained the coast close to St Raphael.
Sitting on the balcony with the overpowering perfume of the pine trees and maquis helped them to recover their overindulged senses from the previous night. It also gave time for Ginevra to open her birthday presents and hug the donors.
From now on the scenery grew more precipitous as the Alps Maritimes drew ever closer to the Mediterranean. The travellers marvelled at the ingenuity of the house builders who sometimes made upside-down houses on the sides of mountains. The car park was on the roof, the main living area next down [so as to get the views over the trees, and the bedrooms below [where the shade of the trees was welcome]. Their train paused before various stations [so as not to run into the local service train]. The stations included Cannes and Nice and their carriages ran on to where Narcissa and Bronwyn waited on Monaco station.
“Your private yacht awaits you, my lords and ladies.” Bronwyn made an almost mocking gesture with her hand.
At much the same time came the pops of apparating elves carrying overnight luggage.
Astoria looked mischievously at them all: “Well; what are you lot waiting for?”
As soon as the last one, Dudley, alighted; Iggy waved from the cab window and their mobile abode started to draw away from the station. Walking through the high-rise apartments of Monaco; they made a detour past the pink grand-ducal palace and from thence down to the quays. Here they boarded a launch to sail towards the Greengrass’s private yacht anchored in the harbour roads.
“Um … Tor … Um … Is that small ship out there your yacht?” Harry pointed in the direction they were heading.
“Yes, Harry, it is.”
“Um ... when Ginny said she’d been on your yacht, I rather imagined something smaller, with sails and a mast. A bit like ours in the Scillies”
“It’s a private yacht, Harry, not a sailing yacht. Since my folks were dispossessed they live on it all the time. They like it so much now that they don’t want to return to Glaswelltdy.”
“Um … Right!” Harry still looked baffled.
“Below decks we have eighteen double cabins, crew and elf quarters, plus all the expected facilities on the main deck. Okay?”
“Um … Yes … I suppose so. It looks bigger than Chantry Cottage.” Harry was still getting his head round the idea of a private yacht.
Astoria could see him floundering and decided to hold out an olive branch: “Not to worry, I love our cottage to bits and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Then again you have a stake in this, now.”
“Really?”
“Yes! Have you forgotten your vows already, I’m your partner just as much as Ginny is, so we share; see?”
“Not thought about it like that, but yes, I suppose we do.”
“You started it off you know, by suggesting we all share the cottage.”
“There are other Black properties, Harry,” Narcissa joined in the conversation. “Now you’re the undisputed heir, all the estates that Bellatrix formerly had charge of return to your ownership. Francis thinks he’ll have things finalised by the time you get to Venice.”
“I’ve been working with him on that,” Hermione added: “It was the Swiss authorities who were the most recalcitrant. We had to go through mountains of the she-devil’s paperwork to find the hidden passwords.”
“When I talked with Francis initially,” Harry replied: “He only knew of one property which he thought was in Britain somewhere and now I seem to have a place in Spain, too.”
“Yes, I agree, but the more we searched the more we found, some had been sold and others bought. Some had been well hidden for tax or death-eater purposes. We’ve already uncovered your chalet on the Austro-Swiss border as well as some of the Peverell houses in Europe. Francis was waiting for various formalities when I left just before the ceremony, there well may be more, who knows, there’s still more paperwork to be perused.”
“Um … we’re going to Austria and Switzerland later; maybe we’ll be able to investigate it then.”
By the end of this conversation they were all safely on board with the tender stowed and the yacht under way. At their personal-elves’ insistence the Blakes went to see their guest cabins.
"Different layout and much more room than the train,” said Draco looking around.
“Same in the bathroom,” Harry averred: “Main difference are the portholes, still there’s not much to look at but the sea.” He peered out and shrugged his shoulders.
“Perhaps the port side looks out at the passing land?” Draco suggested.
There was a quiet knock on the communicating door.
“Come in!”
Ginevra appeared looking slightly peeved. “I suppose your Mother arranged these adjacent cabins, as a reminder for us. Probably a good thing really, Tor says tonight’s the night, Draco.”
“Hmm … Oh well ... I do have to do my duty, don’t I?” Draco looked pale and disturbed.
“So you’ll be with me then, Ginny.” Harry put on a brave face.
“I s’pose! At least we’ll be able to snuggle and get some sleep.” Ginevra adopted a devilish grin: “Those two will be up all night. C’mon lets go and have a swim.”
“Um … Do we wear cozzies with the adults around?”
“No idea. Best to, least, until we know how the land lies.”
As Ginevra left, Robbie and Bobby appeared with towels and thong-like swimming trunks.
“Better not get hard in those, Draco. You’ll be showing everybody my exclusive plaything.”
“Thinking of the duty to come will amply ensure that I don’t; thank you very much.” Draco scowled and tried to punch Harry, but his giggling lover eluded him.
On deck, it was hot and Harry noticed everyone else sporting the briefest attire possible. However, although the breeze was warm its movement kept them comfortable whilst they were cruising gently about a mile offshore with the multi-facetted panorama of the Alps Maritimes in full view. Under a striped canvas awning was set out a cold collage lunch; its centrepiece was an icing confection purporting to be Ginevra’s birthday cake. When she was persuaded to cut it a host of magical butterflies flew out and surrounded her.
Lunch over; the group sat around chatting, with some of them sun bathing. Inevitably the Malfoy and Greengrass matriarchs turned the conversation towards procreation; looking at their offspring meaningfully.
Ginevra arranged to hide behind her attendant butterflies.
“Anyone coming swimming?” Draco asked, pointedly ignoring the older women.
“I’ll go and ask Archibald to stop, shall I,” said Astoria, jumping up quickly.
Da Greengrass chuckled: “They’ll go on about it until you do; you know. Your Grandmamma did with me.”
“Where is Grandmamma, Da? I thought she’d be here,” said Astoria, returning.
“She’s in Vienna, running the house-elves around; making sure that everything is all ticketty-boo for your ball next week.”
“I thought you had a house in Paris?”
“It’s us Bulstrodes that have a Paris apartment, Draco,” Millicent informed them.
“We did, also, Draco, before the revolution,” said Da Greengrass: “The family was foresighted enough to see it coming and sold out. That gave us the capital to buy the Viennese house. They respect old blood properly. You’ve already heard what happened when the Nazis were in power. As you know, Grandmamma lives quite openly there as part of the bourgeois scene, so to speak. I expect you’ll find many of the established muggle families attending the ball as well as magical pure bloods.”
“Yes, we remember going to one of the Duchess’s soirées. It was after we had that service at the synagogue and found out about my grandparents’ exploits.”
Da chuckled, and whispered: “Good try Harry, but I bet you don’t side track the conversation.”
“But who’s going to inherit our holdings? Now Daphne’s dead; at least Astoria has got married.”
Da lifted his eyebrows and nodded at Harry, as if to say ‘told you so’: “Bronwyn dear, don’t push so hard, you’ll frighten them off it for life. It took us three years before our magic fused, didn’t it? Mind you, we had a lot of fun trying meanwhile, didn’t we? They’ve promised to try, let them be; or they’ll think you don’t trust them … Mmm?”
“Yes Darling, I’ll try. I’m quite sure they’re dutiful children,” she concluded pointedly.
Da Greengrass looked at Draco and shrugged. Draco smiled back, recognising that the older females in the family must always have the last word.
Archibald came down from the bridge to inform them that the ship had heaved-to and the gangways were rigged for swimming.
“They are on the starboard side in the sunshine, facing away from the land, should you wish to swim ‘au nu’,” he informed them.
“We had our swim this morning m’dears, so if you want you can strip, then our saggy bits won’t put you off.” Da Greengrass chuckled.
The minimal coverings came off and the butterflies departed; the youngsters trotted towards the two openings in the rail.
“What are the platforms halfway down for, Tor?”
“We dive off those; the ones at water level are for clambering out on to.”
“How deep is it?”
“Twenty or thirty fathoms.”
“What!!!!!!!!”
“I think I’ll just jump in carefully from the bottom one.”
“Mmm … Me too.”
They spent an enjoyable hour or two splashing around in the Mediterranean, most of them plucking up enough courage to dive in from the upper platform. Foolhardy ones like Harry, Seamus and Draco even tried a dive or two from the main deck, Harry decided that discretion was the better part of valour after he seemed to have swallowed half the ocean on his second dive from the deck.
Being at sea meant that the atmosphere cooled quicker in the evening; so, after a very leisurely dinner, various pastimes were followed in the deck cabins. Draco and Astoria continued their teaching of bridge; Harry and Ginevra were becoming quite adept. The three adults plus Archibald also made up another four.
Almost too soon it was time for bed.
~~~ DUTY CALLS ~~~
“Those four were very serious about their bridge, Draco,” Harry said, as they showered.
“They play for a galleon a hundred, all you have to do is loose a little slam, and that’d be our Auror’s wages gone for the week. Our couple of knuts into the pot suits me.”
“Mmm … We’ll soon have enough to go out for another meal; especially if Ginny loses when Tor’s redoubled.”
“You’ve not been perfect in your bidding either. Why in Merlin’s name did you bid hearts when we were better off in diamonds?”
“I thought we’d make game that way.”
“Well we didn’t, did we?”
“Um … No …” Harry looked crestfallen; then he had an idea: “I know what you’re doing. You’re putting off the evil hour.”
“No I’m not … Don’t look at me in that way … Oh … All right … Maybe I am, at that.”
“I thought so … You don’t normally go on about my bad play that much.”
“Don’t do yourself down, Lover. You normally play quite well. We all have our foibles and make mistakes.” Draco hugged Harry and gave him a big kiss.
Ginevra knocked on the intercommunicating door, effectively stopping any further male personal adventures. Harry patted Draco’s bum as he reluctantly marched to his fate.
Ginevra and Harry did snuggle, they were both worried about their partners and how they were managing. Each time one of them wanted to go and listen at the door the other one dissuaded him or her, eventually falling asleep hugging, as Ginevra had foretold.
~~~ THURSDAY 12^TH AUGUST ~~~
About five in the morning Draco shook Harry awake. Ginevra woke at the same time. Draco and Astoria looked totally whacked.
“Well; how did it go?”
“It didn’t and we’re both quite sore.”
“Fine; tell us what happened. Then we’ll decide what not to tell the mums.”
Draco went beet red: “We fooled around stroking each other until I was well hard. I carefully pushed in and there were sparks. Not the exciting ones that we have, Harry, but hurtful ones. I went soft immediately.”
“Not your fault, Draco,” Astoria chipped in: “Just as much mine, I couldn’t stand the burning feeling and pushed you off.”
“Next time was slightly better, but neither of us got anywhere near fruition.”
“We tried different positions, but either he went soft, or I couldn’t stand the burning feeling. It was terrible.”
“I imagine it’s our magics not blending. Your Da said that theirs didn’t to start with.”
“Um … I wonder why we did?” Harry asked, looking at Ginevra.
“Most likely the Island’s green magic overwhelming ours,” observed Ginevra: “That, and the fact that we’d been close friends for a long time beforehand.”
“Maybe our magics have become more attuned to our normal mates.”
“We have to face the mums. What are we to tell them?”"
“I don’t fancy another go this time, do you Draco?”
“Not really!”
“You look as though you’ve been shagging all night, so they’re bound to ask.”
“I doubt I have enough energy to sustain a glamour.”
“Let’s play enigmatic … Erm … Sort of … We’ll have to wait for a month to see if anything has happened.”
“Okay! I’m happy with that.”
“Hmm … So am I.”
It was an early rising day, anyway. On appearing for breakfast the Blakes found they were docked in Genova. The mums were mollified, even if the participants knew that there had been no progress. Harry managed to have a quiet word with Da about it.
“Not to worry, Harry. I had a blister on mine after our first go, it was agony to pee. Tell my two that it does get better as the two magics start to accommodate each other. I’ll not tell the mums; it only stirs up trouble for everyone.”
~~~ ITALY ~~~
Genova Piazza Principe: 08.30 – Pisa Centrale: 10.30
After breakfast on board, some taxis took them to the station where the usual waving goodbyes were participated. Once they were underway, Harry advised the other four about telling Da.
“Thanks Harry,” said Astoria: “I’m glad he knows, he’ll be able to help us without the mums having hysterics every time. Whenever I or Daphne had troubles with Mam, he always got us back on an even keel again.”
“I think we should just keep it between us four, for the time being.”
“Yes, Ginny, good idea.”
Two or three of the main party had been over-enthusiastic about sunbathing yesterday; so two hours rest was very welcome. Astoria and Draco retired to their separate beds leaving Ginevra and Harry plus the new Mr and Mrs Weasley sitting on the balcony admiring the scenery as the train passed between the Apennines and the Mediterranean.
Aggie served coffee just before arriving in Pisa.
Alighting, a delightful half hour’s walk through the old city brought the party to the main religious campus. Having booked tickets for the afternoon ascent of the tower they visited the cool interior of the cathedral. Draco delighted in showing them the various stages in its construction by noting the minute changes in architectural style. They admired the pillared pulpit with its animal and human supporters, as well as the depictions of Christ’s life.
Lunch was partaken on the vast lawns outside; there being no trees the crew had set up a number of colourful umbrellas for the repast.
“Why doesn’t it fall down?” asked Ronald, looking at the tower.
“When the architect saw it begin to lean he piled extra weight on the opposite side,” replied Draco. “According to the books; as we ascend we’ll find the walls and pillars thicker on that side. However, just recently the authorities have made a big effort to stabilise the foundations. The weak earth around here caused the original tilting. The tower now has a massive hidden concrete base.”
###
In the afternoon, the party climbed slowly, pausing to look into different floors, or standing aside in the hollow passing places when another of the timed parties was descending.
“It’s a bit like the Spanish railways,” remarked Dudley: “Regular passing loops and timed departures, so that no one holds anyone up for too long.”
“You’ll find the same idea in Eastern Europe, when we get there,” explained Maggie: “Although their idea of timing is much more relaxed. Then, their whole attitude to life is more relaxed also; sometimes I think that we in the west rush around far too much.”
Their tower-guide moved them on before they became lost in contemplation. The sloping architecture gave an unreal air to their balance.
As they ascended, every now and again Hermione would remark: “Ron, you’re leaning again,” and everyone would chuckle, straightening themselves up unconsciously.
“There are bells up here!” Dudley remarked, when they reached the top.
“Yes dear, it’s the campanile for the cathedral, like the tower at St Godric’s. However the continentals don’t ring changes, they just swing the bells too and fro randomly.” Millicent informed her husband.
“Have you rung your first peal yet?”
“It’s booked for All Saints Day, although I’ll be ringing behind to Grandsire; so whether that counts I’m not quite sure.”
“Our tenor bell’s quite heavy, you know,” said Gregory: “I prefer to ring inside, as does Pans.”
“I rang a peal of Bob Major on the tenor, once.” interposed Pansy: “My arms ached for nearly a week.”
Ronald looked bemused and changed the subject: “It’s quite a drop down there. A bit higher than that Roman Bridge we were on. Hey Guys, they haven’t taken down our umbrellas yet.”
They all rushed over to see where Ronald was pointing, almost immediately followed by the tower-guide telling them that their time was up.
At the bottom it became clear why their shaded area was still standing - enormous ice cream sundaes, almost as good as Fiorello Fortescues.
- 142
- 143
- 144
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Harco Empire