When in Rome

Author's Notes- Firstly thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I'm sorry if I haven't responded but they have all been very much appreciated. I'm really sorry about the delay on this chapter but I've been having computer problems along with an extensive work load. Hopefully it won't be as long until the next update but, even if it is, just to remind you that this story won't be abandonned without warning.

Beta'd by Fiction Alley's Alexa Black.

My work can also be found at ff.net and at skyehawke.com (or at least, it will be as soon as I can code this for skyehawke) The skyehawke will have the high rated nc-17 stuff and my pen name there is my real name, Jessica Cresswell. This account and ff.net (the same name as this account) will contain toned down versions. That is, when I even get to the slashy parts.

Due to the waits between reviews, I will be starting a mailing list to keep everyone updated. Keep a look out for this chapter being updated at a later date with details or in the author's notes of the next chapter.

I think that's everything I had to say. A happy belated Christmas/Yule to you all.

Jessica xXx

Chapter 2

Half an hour into the flight, Harry found himself glaring daggers at Kai, who was snoozing contentedly in the row in front of them. The seats were allocated in groups of three and Elise was adamant about sitting with Stephan. Either Harry or Kai had to sit in the row in front; Kai had been so selfless by quickly offering to take that seat and he had promptly fallen asleep, leaving Harry to put up with Stephan and Elise on his own.

He had already suffered through a twenty-minute rant about why they should have gone first class rather than economy and now he was listening to Elise reminisce about how the two of them had met -- with regular interruptions from Stephan about the audacity of the waitress at the restaurant they dined at on this date, or the quality of the food they had on that date.

Thirty-five minutes into the flight, Harry had lost the will to live. He had been to the toilet several times, tried to feign sleep and had even turned on his mp3 player. Nothing could blot out Stephan's guffaw of a laugh or Elise's high-pitched giggle.

To make matters worse, Harry could have sworn that the presence he had felt at the airport was still nearby. He had walked up and down the plane enough times to know that if the person was on the flight, they must be travelling first class. He didn't dare go and check. His mind had reeled off name after name of who the person could be and at least three-quarters of them were either Death Eaters or Slytherins. Of the remaining quarter, Harry couldn't bring himself to even consider the thought of meeting them again. He had had such great friends and he had abandoned them -- the survivors at least.

It hadn't been a hard decision to ignore the long-forgotten presence. There was no one in that part of the plane that he could possibly want to or, in the case of his friends, deserve to see again.

The awakening of his magic was more difficult to ignore. The grating of the mystery person's magical signature irritated him, stirring up more power than he had felt in years. Stephan began to gripe about religion -- two nuns were on the flight, presumably travelling to see the Pope. Within minutes he had moved through all the major religions and was now avidly attacking Paganism. His ignorance on all subjects from Christianity to magic was driving Harry up the wall. The magic was swelling inside him and he was having enough trouble keeping it under control without having to put up with Stephan too. A sudden flash of anger was followed by silence; Stephan had stopped talking. He wordlessly opened and closed his mouth, growing more and more anxious at the loss of his voice.

Harry felt physically sick. The magic had escaped from him forcefully, following his slightest wish to have Stephan shut up. He had not cast so much as a simple charm since he had Apparated with a wallet full of Muggle currency from the exchange point at Gringotts. Violently trembling, he cast a quick Finite Incantatum at Stephan before he passed out.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry was dragged back into consciousness by a shaking sensation. Elise was leaning over to him, gently rousing him and laughing.

"I can't believe you slept through most of the flight, hun! That mystery boyfriend keep you up all night?"

Harry mumbled something about not having a boyfriend before taking a long swig of water and gathering his things. Kai was leaning on the back of his chair, chin buried in the head rest and his hazel eyes studying him seriously.

"If I didn't know you were such a deep sleeper, Harry, I'd have hazarded a guess that you were unconscious just then. You've been a ghastly pale since I met you at the airport."

Harry gave him a non-committal shrug before pinching the bridge of his nose with a look of determined concentration. Finally centered, he looked up again.

"I'm fine now, I promise. I just thought I..." Thought I what? Felt the presence of someone? "I just thought I saw someone that I used to know. Bit of a shock, that's all." His voice wavered slightly as he spoke. Kai nodded, reassured. Harry's past was something that Kai and Elise had long since known to let be.

"You know I'm here if you're ever ready to talk." Harry gave him a genuine smile and ruffled his hair. The Irishman squawked indignantly before straightening up and in a perfect imitation of Stephan, retorted "I would mess you're hair in response, but there wouldn't be much point," he said haughtily, nose in the air.

He and Harry snickered but they began to laugh uncontrollably when Stephan said, "My, you sounded just like that blond prat that was in the queue in front of me at the airport." Elise and Stephan led the way down towards the door, Kai and Harry still trying to stop laughing.

"How could anyone be so dense?" Kai whispered between snorts of laughter.

Still unable to talk, Harry just shook his head in response. They caught up with Elise and Stephan as the four stepped off the plane and into glorious sunshine and humid air. They followed the crowd towards the baggage collection point.

Harry was feeling much more in control now. The magic was still there, still dangerously powerful but he was slowly remembering how to control it. It wasn't easy to admit after such a long time of forcing himself to forget, but Harry felt almost whole again. He had locked a part of his soul away for five years and now, to have it coursing through every fibre of his being was at once sobering and amazing.

He squinted slightly, adjusting his sight and gazed down at his hands, watching his aura pulsate brilliant emerald and gold around him. It had been a long time since he'd been able to see auras. Out of interest, he turned to Elise, who was standing hand-on-hip waiting impatiently for a glimpse of her suitcase. Her aura glowed pale lavender infused with a vivid pink. Very appropriate for such a flirt, Harry thought, smiling to himself.

Next he turned to Kai who was surrounded in a haze of deep burgundy and, finally, to Stephan. For a moment, Harry couldn't see any aura surrounding the tall man, but slowly a dull grey filtered its way into Harry's vision. It was more of a fog than a haze and looked almost suffocating. As Stephan reached out to tap Elise to alert her to the arrival of her suitcase, Harry saw the grey fuse with Elise's lavender-pink aura around her shoulder. It entangled with a wisp of fuchsia pink and clogged it, turning it lavender.

Harry stood in shock. He had never seen anything like it. Sometimes when people, particularly lovers, touched, their auras would mingle slightly, but Stephan's was actually invading Elise's. Harry's original suspicions were confirmed. He really did not like that guy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They had arrived in Rome just after midday and had decided to take the scenic route back from the airport to see a few sights. Driving through the city, Harry was in awe of its almost schizophrenic architecture. The city varied from wide, ornate squares with classy high street shops and pristine white-stone buildings to the ancient and historic parts of the city of baked stone and ruinous architecture. Both parts of the city had one thing in common -- new or old, everywhere was beautiful.

Kai was sitting in the taxi opposite Harry, his eyes flickering from his guide books to the view out of the windows. Elise was curled up against Stephan, gushing about how the city was so romantic. Stephan wasn't really listening; he was 'preserving his voice' after his freak muteness on the plane. Harry chuckled inwardly at this perfect result but his contentment was going to be short-lived.

Stephan seemed to be struggling not to say something, whether to save his voice or because he was embarrassed that it wasn't clear. Eventually he gave up and 'whispered' to Elise, "Remember when we were on the plane, just about to leave? When you woke Harry up, you said something about his, uh, 'mystery boyfriend'?"

Kai groaned and pointedly glared at Stephan. "What would be the problem if she did?" he challenged. Stephan visibly deflated, looking warily at Kai before mumbling, "I just don't agree with it that's all."

"Well no one gives a damn what you think you jumped up little-"

"Kai! You might as well be whistling jigs to a milestone," Harry cut in firmly with an Irish saying he heard Seamus use many times when someone was attacking the Irishman's sexuality. Basically, it meant there was no point.

Kai stopped immediately and laughed loudly. "Well, who'd have thought it? You're full of surprises! Where did you learn that?"

"My old dorm mate was Irish," Harry answered quietly. He turned to the window and his friends knew him well enough to let him be. This was the first time he had ever so much as mentioned something about his past without needing to and both Kai and Elise felt its significance. Stephan however was oblivious and he continued, regardless of the obvious atmosphere in the taxi.

"So you aren't a fag, Harry?"

"No, I'm not a fag," Harry snapped. Stephan seemed to sigh in relieve before Harry added, "I'm gay."

"What's the difference?" he sneered.

"The difference," Harry said as he turned to look at the man, "is that one term is offensive."

Elise had been staring at Stephan in an annoyed manner -- she hadn't seen this side of him before -- but now everyone's attention was firmly fixed on Harry. He looked so different. His eyes were cold, penetrating orbs of jade -- not their usual sparkling emerald. He looked dangerous. An invisible force seemed to flow from him, around him, within him.

He turned away sharply towards the window, shaking his head. He barely acknowledged Stephan's rushed apology or Kai and Elise's concerned questions. He had just had a blunt reminder of exactly how much magic he had been storing away -- enough magic to kill, wandlessly and non-verbally. It was a scary reminder. Harry found himself imagining how Stephan would react if he knew that he was not only sharing a taxi with someone who was gay, but also someone who happened to be a mass-murderer. It was a sobering thought.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just been one of those days, that's all. I know it's no excuse; I just hope you can understand." Harry looked almost close to tears.

Kai and Elise smiled warmly. This was the Harry that they were used to -- moody and insecure but with such genuine goodness and love that it made all his shortcomings seem irrelevant. They didn't hesitate to tell him there was nothing wrong and that he had every right to be offended. Stephan was still looking wary but even he tried to explain.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I've never met someone who's openly gay and so my prejudices are probably unfounded. I guess this holiday is going to be a learning curve for us all, right? I get to spend time with a gay man without the fear of getting hit on and you guys get to see how the better half lives. I say it's a jolly good deal all ways round!"

The tension was instantly diffused as Elise took on the expression of the ever-proud girlfriend again and Kai and Harry returned to their barely contained laughter at Stephan.

I wonder how much Stephan would have sucked up to me when we met if he knew that I am the resident artist, novelist and millionaire? Harry thought dryly to himself. He was always careful to keep his bank statements out of sight of his friends. When he emptied his Gringotts accounts -- he didn't close them, they had been his parents' after all -- the Muggle bank clerk had been in quite a state when he realised just how much Harry had to deposit.

Harry was pulled from his musings yet again. He made a mental note to himself to stop daydreaming and then tuned in to the real world once more. He noticed a thin pathway, Stephan had pointed it out, saying it was 'dingy and a let down to the area' but it didn't look so dingy to Harry. He saw a narrow pathway true enough, but he could also see that it opened up into a wider street of mismatched shops -- Harry could have sworn that the forecourt of the nearest shop was stacked with cauldrons. Diagon Alley, he thought, or the Italian version at least.

He wondered whether he could look around there without being mobbed. He did look different and he could always try a simple glamour charm. Weighing the pros and cons, he decided then and there to come back as soon as he could get time alone. It would be worth it even if it was just to find a text on auras to research what he had seen Stephan do earlier.

The taxi seemed to be heading towards the outskirts of the city. This area seemed more residential and was scattered with young Italian men and women on mopeds, as well as older families. Posters littered the walls here, but still there was no graffiti or rubbish to be seen.

The taxi came to a stop just outside their hotel. The front was white stone and the façade had the typical pillars and flying flags. It was several floors high and there appeared to be a path down the side of the hotel leading to some football pitches. They walked inside and were greeted by a large marble staircase leading to the rooms, a small reception, a lounge and bar and, across the wide hall, a dining room.

"So what do you guys fancy doing first?" Elise was getting more hyper by the second. Other than France and England, she hadn't visited a foreign country before.

"How about we check in first, honey," Kai smiled. Elise blushed slightly and mumbled 'I knew that' under her breath. Stephan was hanging around Harry, trying to work out how he had managed to afford the fare for the taxi by himself.

All in all, Harry was desperate to escape to his room and have some piece and quiet. He had the niggling feeling that the person he had sensed earlier was somewhere in the hotel. The chances of that were slim and so he put it down to tiredness -- after all, it had only been a few short hours since his magic had returned to him; he was bound to be rusty, right?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Twenty minutes and two four-way arguments about how to get the luggage upstairs and which room was whose later, Harry finally collapsed onto his bed. The room, he reflected, wasn't bad at all. He had his own en-suite bathroom and television -- even the air conditioning was working. In fact, the only thing he could criticise was the fact that the walls were covered in pink, fabric wallpaper. He shut his eyes and focused on locating magic to see if he could do consciously what had triggered everything off at the airport.

Colours swirled around him, faint sounds could be heard and the air smelled like acrid electricity. He plunged deeper until he could actually feel magic. He felt someone unpacking their things magically in a room not far away from his own. It was the same signature and this time it was more familiar than ever. Harry blinked a few times in rapid succession as though coming out of a trance. For a split second he realised who it was but the day had finally caught up and sleep claimed him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Light was beaming through the curtains and the air was warm and dry. Harry was aware of a fuzzy shape leaning over him. Groggily, he sat himself up, banging heads with the shape.

"Ouch! Sorry honey, it's just you look so cute when you're asleep! Are you going to get your lazy arse out of bed? You do realise that you slept through, don't you? We had to have dinner without you last night. It was so awkward...Kai must have felt like a gooseberry or something."

"Morning, Elise," Harry yawned as he stretched. She carried on chatting animatedly as Harry grabbed some clothes from his suitcase and his shower things before making his way into the bathroom. Elise waited for him to get in the shower and pull the curtain before she entered, perched on the toilet seat and continued gossiping.

He finally managed to usher her out of the room so that he could dress in peace. He threw on a pair of thin, faded jeans and a white t-shirt. He stood at the mirror drying his hair, absent-mindedly thinking about how his appearance had changed so drastically. Every time he looked at his reflection, Harry half-expected to see a short, scrawny bespectacled boy staring back at him. When he had left the Wizarding world, the young man he had seen in place of the boy had been an obscure nobody, emaciated, grief-stricken and plain.

But, after the events of yesterday, there was magic in his eyes once more. That shimmering intensity had been sorely missed and Harry wasn't sorry to see it again. Today, he looked in the mirror and saw the boy he was, only older with an angled jaw and sharp features, piercing eyes and a lithe physique. Hesitating slightly, Harry brushed back his hair and re-did his usual side part that hid his scar.

Normally it would take time and effort to get his hair to stay put to cover it, but today he didn't see the point. He tried a quick wandless drying spell instead and let his hair do as it pleased, just like it used to. It worked well -- it now looked just as wild as before, only now well past shoulder length. A simple hairstyle change may not seem significant to anyone else, but to Harry, it was symbolic of being Harry Potter again.

He stepped out of his room only to find himself instantly mauled by Elise.

"Mon dieu! Harry, c'est fantastique! I like it so much better when you leave your hair all natural like this and you can see that sexy scar of yours! I've only ever seen that once or twice!"

"Okay, honey! We're keeping you well away from the sugar today, you hyper little hair-stylist. Give the guy some room!" Harry flashed Kai a grateful look at the intervention.

Stephan arrived from his room, looking disgruntled at being woken up. Still in a dressing-gown, he told them sleepily that he didn't want breakfast and to call on him at a more humane time before shutting the door crisply behind him.

"You should have seen him when I first woke him up!" laughed Elise. "If looks could kill..."

The three made their way down to breakfast in high spirits. Both Kai and Harry were obviously more relaxed without Stephan around and Elise seemed to act differently too. Harry had begun to wonder if Stephan was having a negative effect on his friend, but he decided not to dwell on that now.

As the three of them jumped down the last three steps, hand-in-hand and laughing, they were hit with the smell of pastries and coffee. When they got to the dining room, Kai and Elise made a beeline for the breakfast bar. Harry, however, stopped frozen to the spot.

A man was sitting in the room at a corner table, idly turning the pages of a newspaper. He was wearing an ornate silver-grey top that would have looked oriental in style to someone unfamiliar with the Wizarding World. It had a high fastening with a fabric tie and was long sleeved. Harry had always marvelled at Wizarding clothes and the way how they were deceptively cool despite looking so warm.

Looking closer, Harry noted that the man emanated elfin beauty -- no other words could describe him better. He was tall and slight of build with refined features and flowing blond hair that hung in gently waves across his face as he read. For that split-second in time, the man looked like a piece of art.

Then frosted eyes met Harry's own -- all the shades from storm-grey to pale stone in a steely stare. The eyes widened in shock upon meeting Harry's gaze. Recognition hit Harry at the same moment he pinpointed the source of the magical signature. A slight gasp escaped his lips and then nothing as he hurtled down into the deep oblivion of unconsciousness for the second time in two days. A name danced around in his mind before he completely fainted. The name of an enemy, of one he'd never understood -- Draco Malfoy.