Chapter 31

Harry sat on his broom stick, his eyes closed and face up as the beating sun poured down and warmed him. The wind was starting to pick up again, and with it, the ocean chill, but for this brief moment, he was warm and peaceful and just taking it all in.

"You'd best not fall asleep on your broom," Marvolo called and Harry opened his eyes to see him flying back towards him. "When you fall from a height this great, hitting ocean water is no different than hitting solid rock."

Harry chuckled. "I'm fine, just enjoying the brief parting of the clouds. Blue sky and sun — it's nice."

Marvolo smiled softly for a moment before taking on a more 'down-to-business' expression. "The ritual circle has successfully sunk to the ocean bottom and is ready."

"The wards are running and fully functional," Harry added. "The muggle's seismological instruments and satellites, won't detect anything."

"Then I see no reason for further delay. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be. This is the spot, right?"

"Just a bit over here," Marvolo corrected, maneuvering his broom a bit further to Harry's side. Harry guided his own broom over and turned so he was facing him.

Marvolo reached into his robes and produced a perfectly round black shiny ball, no more than half a foot in diameter, though it was certainly bigger than to have reasonably fit inside Marvolo's robes. He extended his hand and the orb floated out into the air where it levitated in space directly between them.

"This first bit has to be out here, but after we get it started we can take the fireglass stone back to land and work from there," Marvolo explained, even though Harry already knew this.

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement and raised his wand, aiming it at the floating black sphere.

Harry relaxed his magical masking, and judging by the predatory smirk and hungry eyes Marvolo gave him an instant later, the man apparently approved of the wave of power Harry had just let loose. Marvolo, in contrast, had never been masking his magical signature in the first place, and Harry was long-since accustomed to basking in the other man's magic, almost full-time.

"Oh three," Marvolo said, aiming his wand and refocusing on the ball. Harry nodded. "One. Two. Three!"

Both wizards began focusing their magic at the same time. No words were necessary, as all of the enchantments were setup ahead of time in the ritual circle and three primary anchor points.

Glowing orange beams of light shot from their wand tips, straight at the orb where they met and amplified. A series of rhythmic pulses began to echo and vibrate from the fireglass, growing in intensity with each passing second.

A shocking violet light then pulsed from the sphere and shot directly down and into the water below. This went on for a solid minute, by which point, both were beginning to look a bit haggard, though Harry saw far more determination in Marvolo's face than any subtle signs of him tiring.

The violet light began to glow brighter and brighter and the pulsing was beginning to speed up. Harry could feel perspiration beading on his forehead, and the subtle irritation of a drop of sweat going down the side of his face, disturbing the small hair follicles there just enough to cause an itch, he had no time to scratch. The spell was draining him fast; consuming a tremendous amount of energy. He actually had a moment where he mentally paused and marveled at the feeling of actually weakening and experiencing the telltale signs of the onset of magical exhaustion. It was something he hadn't experienced in an incredibly long time.

The pulses were coming so fast now it was practically like a strobe light and it was difficult to even look at it, it was growing so bright and blinding. Harry felt it building and pressed on with all he had — the knowledge and excitement of what was coming, driving him further. Finally the amassed energy seemed to explode in one tremendously powerful burst of light that shot down into the water with such force, it caused waves to swirl around it and temporarily form a sizable vortex in the sea below.

Harry heaved a hugely relieved sigh and sank back in on himself a bit, while still staying on his broom, panting and breathless. Marvolo did the very same and Harry couldn't help but smirk as he was suddenly reminded of the last time he'd seen the man breathless. They were in bed after a particularly enjoyable shag, and the man had been entirely out of breath by the time they were done.

Marvolo began to laugh then, shook his head and leered over at Harry. "In the midst of all that —" he paused and panted a moment to catch his breath —"you still manage to find some random train of thought to feel perverted over?"

Harry snickered and shrugged. "Teenaged bodies are hormonal — what do you expect?"

"But you aren't even in a teenaged body right now," Marvolo stated.

"Like 25-year old men aren't horny all the time too?" Harry said with a laugh, and Marvolo chuckled too.

Harry let out a long relieved sigh and looked back at the black orb of fireglass still floating in front of them. It was still pulsing, but it was doing so at a very slow, and steady pace now. A constant string of light was going from the orb, directly down and disappearing into the water, but it was thin and only barely visible. It became a bit brighter and more opaque with each of the gradual pulses, but not by much, and it was stable now, so they wouldn't have to remain connected to it like before.

Staring into the almost hypnotic calming rhythm Harry'd mind wandered a bit and he cocked his head to the side, his eyes unfocused. "The connection between us… do you think it's gotten stronger?" he asked, turning his gaze back up on Marvolo.

"Stronger?"

"I mean, you practically read my mind there. That's not the first time that's happened."

Marvolo frowned thoughtfully for a moment before giving a bit of a shrug. "Honestly, I think we're just keeping it open more often. Or more open, all the time. I also think I've come to know you a bit better, and I can usually figure out what you might be thinking about based on what emotions I sense from you, and I've started being able to identify what those emotions actually are when I feel them. I don't think we've completely closed off the connection in weeks. Or if we have, it was so brief, it's practically inconsequential. I mean, I used to intentionally shut it down for some sense of privacy during various activities, every day, but I haven't really felt the need to do that in quite some time now."

Harry smiled over at the other man and gave a small nod. "Yeah, I guess that's probably it. Though you did successfully block me when we were at the Wizengamot. I still can't believe you managed to be right there and I had no idea."

Marvolo smirked triumphantly. "I wanted it to be a surprise. Believe me, it was hardly easy. I still don't think I could have pulled it off if not for the fact that there were just so many wizards — a few of vaguely noteworthy power level — in the hall that day. Not to mention several of those louts weren't bothering to mask at all, and while they were hardly anything all that impressive, they were still distracting enough that I was able to remain beneath your notice."

Harry shook his head with something between exasperation and amusement. "I still can't believe you pulled that whole thing off, at all."

Marvolo's expression only grew more smug. "It was no simple task, but I am quite pleased that I pulled it off, myself."

Harry chuckled and then pulled in a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and turned to look back towards Hirta. "Shall we head back?" he asked, looking back at Marvolo.

Marvolo gave a sharp nod before extending his wand back towards the black sphere and giving it a small tap. An identical black orb then seemed to emerge from the first one as if it had occupied the exact same space and had simply phased out of the first orb into it's own orb.

The second orb appeared to be maintaining a thin filament of glowing light between it and the original, but it almost looked like a thread that draped a little, and even blew in the wind. This second fireglass ball moved towards Marvolo and began to follow his every move.

"Ready," Marvolo said, and Harry took off towards the largest island of the Skildir archipelago, with Marvolo following directly behind him. They made their way to the ruined village not far from the island's only bay, and settled down into one of the few of the mostly collapsed buildings whose stone walls were still more standing than not — though what had no doubt once been a thatched roof, was long gone. They landed and dismounted their brooms, with the black orb of fireglass continuing to levitate mid-air a few feet beyond Marvolo's shoulder.

"We should probably make an alter for that to rest in when we aren't here," Harry said, nodding towards the orb as Marvolo guided it with his wand to rest in the corner of the room.

Marvolo nodded and made an affirmative sort of hum as he took his broom and propped it up in an opposite corner of the ruined house, along with Harry's broom and his rucksack. "We'll definitely want a stationary alter once the Azkaban escapees take over the land-growth progress. The last thing we need is one of them to go and misplace the blasted thing."

Harry snorted and chuckled. "How long have we got until the next thaumaturgy transmission?"

"It should be ready for a recharge in just a bit over an hour, so we've got enough time for some recovery. The first four charges are the most important ones; after that we can put some more time between the sessions and get some rest for the night. But I don't think we should wait more than five hours between the forth and the fifth charge, so we will have to split our sleep a bit."

Harry heaved a tired groan. "It is definitely going to be a long couple nights. Hey, do you think we should maybe think about actually setting up a few structures around here that have four walls and a roof?"

"Maybe, but now is probably not the ideal time. Your magic reserves are already low and we need to use this time to recover, not to start conjuring building materials."

Harry grimaced. "Good point. I am pretty much wiped out right now. I can feel my magical wells filling back up fairly quickly, but if I want it refilled enough to be any use during the next charge, I probably shouldn't do much of anything if I can help it."

"Fortunately," Marvolo paused and smirked, "I actually came prepared."

"You are always prepared. I swear, the extent to which you preplan for all the different possible scenarios is crazy. I'm just lucky you weren't sane enough to do any of that chess-master crap when I was actually a kid."

Marvolo arched a single brow in Harry's direction, before shaking his head with a small chuckle and reaching into his robes. He pulled a draw-string bag out of an inner pocket and began to pull the opening wide. The opening seemed to grow to entirely unrealistic lengths. He pulled at the bottom of the bag and even that seemed to grow in size a bit, giving the opening even more room to extend unrealistically. Harry watched with bemusement as Marvolo then reached in and began to work a rolled up something out of the bag. Even with as much as the bag had grown in size and proportion, the object within was still having difficulty fitting through and after a moment, Harry reached out and assisted, holding the bottom of the bag while Marvolo held onto the object itself.

They each pulled and it was finally released. Finally it was free and the rolled-up object unwrapped itself into what appeared to be some sort of futon or camp bed. Judging my how irritated Marvolo looked when the whole ordeal was over with, Harry suspected he was quite put out with having to do the whole thing in such an undignified and cumbersome manner. But the truth was that Marvolo was probably even more drained than Harry was.

Harry let out a relieved breath and chuckled. "Brilliant. You brought a bed, huh?"

"I rather doubted that by the time night falls, I would have the energy left to do anything more than collapse on the hard cold ground, and that was not the least bit appealing," Marvolo drawled dryly.

Harry bent over unrolling what was left of the mat and he and Marvolo set it into the corner with the most walls remaining in tact.

"It's a bit narrow, but if we cuddle up close, it'll be plenty comfortable," Harry remarked, leering.

"Who says I'm sharing? I said that I came prepared. It's hardly my fault if you didn't think ahead." Marvolo said arching a single brow in Harry's direction. He maintained a perfect poker face for all of five seconds before a grin broke across his lips and Harry just laughed.

"Have you got anything else in that bag of yours?" Harry asked going over to where it had been discarded to the ground and picking it up.

"Some blankets and pillows are stuffed in the bottom, along with a few random things. I've also got this device I enchanted with an area warming spell, since I doubt we'll feel up to casting one."

Harry nodded and began digging into the bag and pulling out what was left.

It was exactly one hour and fifteen minutes until the black ball of fireglass began to pulse in quick succession again. It had been mostly ignored in the corner of the room until that point, but the two wizards quickly turned their focus on it, drawing it into the center of the room and extending each of their wands towards the orb and focusing their magic yet again. A solid two minutes of exhausting magical draining passed before it was over and the two collapsed together onto the futon mattress on the ground, a panting heap of exhaustion. Harry mentally remarked that the mattress was a lot more comfortable than it had any right to be, given how thin it looked.

"Bloody hell, we've seriously got two more of these before we can sleep?" Harry groaned as the panting subsided enough to breath properly again.

"So long as we set alarms and actually get our asses up when they go off, I see no reason not to sleep right now," Marvolo said, breathlessly.

"Yeah… good. Sounds good," Harry said, grabbing his wand and waving it a bit, but only getting a rather defunct little spark. He laughed, almost incredulously before dropping the wand limply and letting his head fall back onto the pillowed mat. "Wow. I don't even remember the last time I drained myself this low."

"Forcing million-years-old extinct volcanic fissures to open up and redirect to a desired location, isn't a simple matter. Fancy that," Marvolo drawled sarcastically, between breathy pants.

Harry snorted.

And then everything shook. It only lasted a few seconds before subsiding, but the low rumbling sound continued on or several moments longer. Harry sat up looking around on higher alert now than before, examining the rock walls beside them with considerably more scrutiny than before.

"Speaking of shifting rock to make room for magma…" Marvolo said dryly as he pushed himself up on his elbows as well.

"That happened sooner than I'd expected. I figured we'd be at least four or five sessions in before we started feeling earthquakes," Harry remarked.

"That's a good sign, if anything," Marvolo added, letting himself fall back down onto his back and looking up into the reddening sky. Clouds of bright orange and pinks were beginning to fill one end of the sky while the clouds further from the setting sun were turning shades of purple and deep blue.

"Honestly, we're probably ahead of schedule because I didn't take into account an accurate picture of your full power level," Marvolo said, his voice a bit accusatory.

Harry looked over at him questioningly.

Marvolo snorted. "You've been masking it, even when I ask you not to," he added. "So I've never gotten a true gauge on just how deep your power reserves go."

"Oh, come on! It's not like I'm gonna stand there next to you, surrounded by Death Eaters, and overshadow you. That'd just… rude."

Marvolo coughed out an incredulous laugh and shook his head tiredly before letting his eyes fall closed.

"It doesn't bother you, does it?" Harry asked, knowing that his voice showed more insecurity than he had any business feeling.

"Does what bother me?"

"That I'm more powerful than you."

Marvolo snorted again. "Harry, you've apparently killed me more than half a dozen times, I would expect you to be more powerful."

"You were insane, and I was definitely less powerful than you, for quite a few of those," Harry pointed out.

Marvolo shrugged dismissively, still keeping his eyes shut and relaxing. "You've lived more than six centuries. If you were not more powerful than me, I would be considerably less impressed with you."

Harry chuckled and let himself fall back down on the mattress as well and leaned into Marvolo's side, enjoying the warmth of the other man's body, since with the setting sun, the island was beginning to have more of a chill in the air.

Harry raised his hand and made a little twirl with his fingers and the numbers of a clock face appeared in thin air just beyond them.

Marvolo laughed. "Already recovered enough to do that wandlessly, have you?"

Harry shrugged as he extended his finger out into the floating clock face and moving the clock hands to one hour ahead before waving his hand again and causing the clock to flash and fade away.

"I recover quickly. I told you I'd be ready for another go in an hour, and I meant it. Doesn't mean I'm not still exhausted."

"Mmm,"Marvolo agreed tiredly, reaching his arm out and maneuvering it beneath Harry's shoulders, and pulling him closer into his side.

Waking up an hour later to the sound of a very persistent little bird that was coming out of the magical clock face, like an insane coo-coo-clock's bird, was not pleasant in the least. But it was at least effective. The two of them had managed to get up up and gotten awake enough to start to think clearly again, when the pulsing on the orb began to increase it's pace yet again signaling the beginning of the next thaumaturgy transmission.

That session and the next were much the same as the last, though the fourth session had the benefit of permitting them a much longer break before they would have to get up again for the fifth.

Harry had to wait ten minutes after collapsing from the fourth charging session, before he'd recovered enough to to cast another alarm clock spell, but as soon as he had, he and Marvolo both fell almost instantly unconscious, slipping into a heavy and easy sleep.

The next time the little bird began it's manic chirping, was just over five hours later, and the sky was still mostly dim, though a hazy orange glow could just barely been seen intruding on the purples and blues as Harry looked up beyond the rock wall beside him.

Marvolo groaned grumpily as Harry extracted himself from the man's heavy arm and pushed himself upright to observe the obscenely loud little conjured bird.

"Way too fucking early," Harry groused as he waved his wand, canceling the alarm and then stretched his neck, arms, and back, causing several loud pops and cracks.

"Ugh, the sounds you make… You do realize thats not good for you, don't you?" Marvolo muttered into the pillow his face was still mostly buried in.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm a wizard. We've got potions for restoring spinal ligaments. Plus - you know — the Elixir or Life — for whenever I finally decide I'm satisfied with my age. It's not like I have to worry that I'm gonna need to consult a muggle chiropractor in my 40's because I popped my joints too much in my youth."

"Valid point," Marvolo said rolling over and looking up at Harry. "But when one's goals involve living centuries, I personally believe it wise to go the extra mile to try and preserve one's body."

"Ah - a lesson learned the hard way?"

Marvolo groaned as he stood up and gave Harry something of a grimace before sighing and shrugging. "To some extent, I suppose."

Harry went over to the corner where he'd left his rucksack and dug out a change of clothes.

"Be back in a moment," Marvolo said as Harry was pulling his shirt over his head. "Need to relieve myself."

"Ah, okay," Harry said with a nod as he then proceeded to pull the fresh shirt on. Harry slipped out of his trousers before slipping on a clean pair and taking a distracted moment to run his hand through his hair and grimace, knowing it was probably no better than a bird's nest, but also knowing there was little he could do about it at the moment. Harry had just started to dig into his bag for his notebook when he heard Marvolo calling to him from outside.

He trotted out and turned to look around the row of ruined stone houses in search of Marvolo when he spotted him some distance away, up on the hill. Just south of the old village was the bay and a rock and sand beach, but to the east the island's edge was a sharp jutting rockwall, thousands of feet in the air. Beyond the distant hill, ocean and sky was all that was visible, and the glowing orange of the sunrise was illuminating things quite beautifully. Harry jogged up the short hill to join the other man and gave him a questioning look as he arrived by his side.

"What's up?" he asked.

Marvolo extended his arm, pointing out towards the ocean. "See that bit of ocean out there?"

Harry looked out and squinted, not entirely sure what he was looking for at first. His eyes widened with mild surprise. "That almost looks like a sandy beach. But it's too soon for there to be land that high and… well, it wouldn't look like that, would it?"

"It's floating pumice," Marvolo corrected, smirking quite proudly. "The lava is already escaping into the ocean, deep below."

"Wow! That's brilliant!" Harry said, grinning.

"We'll have to take the brooms out and get a better look later."

"Yeah, definitely."

The two finished up and made to head back to the house. Harry took the opportunity to relieve himself while he was out there and by the time he'd gotten back into their shelter, Marvolo had also changed into some fresh robes and trousers.

"The pulses are starting to speed up," Marvolo said as Harry came in through the doorway.

Harry heaved a sigh, but he smiled anyway. It was sort of surreal to know he was manipulating something on such a substantial scale. It was kind of crazy to think about two people having the power necessary to effect the very structure of a part of the planet, miles down. Shifting molten and solid rock on a massive scale. They were creating land. Or at least, they would be. There was molten rock being expelled onto the ocean floor at that very moment, instantly boiling the water around it, generating bubbles of various gasses, and creating the extremely porous pumice rock, which was then floating up to the surface and collecting there in large enough quantities to make what looked like a very sizable sandbar.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts by another small rumble working its way across the land. A rock from the top of one of the walls shook loose and fell to the ground next to his broom. Harry arched a single brow. "We might want to put some of our attention into earthquake proofing the buildings we finally start to put up here. I don't expect the earthquakes to stop so long as we're still growing the magma flow, and that will be quite a long while, indeed."

"Yes, probably. I also think it'd be wise to bring a tent for our next overnight stay here, rather than staying in the ruins of the old village," Marvolo added, nodding his head in agreement.

"I kind of liked being able to see the stars all night."

"Nothing stopping you from doing that in a tent."

Harry laughed. "Only so long as I think to do it ahead of time. If I go to collapse in bed after another charging session, I won't have the energy necessary to put a viewport through the roof of the tent."

The fireglass began to pulse much faster then, drawing both of their attention back to it, and the pair quickly got down to business.

Once they were through they did lay back down and relax for a short while, but neither bothered to actually fall back asleep, and it wasn't long until the pair were back up and wandering the ruins, discussing their plans.

They discussed what sorts of buildings to start putting in place and where, as well as debating the demolition of the muggle's military base in the bay.

"Well, we should at least go through the place looking for anything useful first," Harry had argued at one point.

"Why bother? The base was built in the 50's, and it's minuscule, as far as these things are concerned. It's a couple dormitory buildings, a canteen, and a radio transmission building. I rather doubt any of it would be even remotely useful."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You never know. Maybe the muggles secretly installed a nuclear missile silo on the island and they use the bird sanctuary as a cover."

Marvolo had given him a rather unimpressed look before rolling his eyes and the pair soon moved onto other subjects.

Every three hours they had returned to the fireglass to repeat the thaumaturgy transmission process, and by mid-afternoon, they were both completely exhausted.

Harry stumbled out of their ruined building and made his way up the hill to where Marvolo was once again perched, though now he was sitting and looking out into the distance. Harry came up next to himself and let himself fall heavily down into a sitting position, groaning as he did so.

"You know, that mattress you brought is a lot more comfortable than the rocks and grass out here," Harry said.

"Yes, but the view of four crumbling rock walls is considerably less interesting than this one," Marvolo said distracted.

Another rumble shook the ground and Harry sat up a bit straighter and followed Marvolo's gaze.

They'd flown out earlier that afternoon and examined the growing pumice spread filling a now vast space of ocean between Hirta and Boreray. It had been expanding all day from what Harry could tell, and it was a lot easier to see it now than before. It really did look like a giant sand bar, only moving in gradual waves. The earthquakes had also been coming with greater frequency, and they'd nearly stopped catching Harry by surprise at this point.

"Look," Marvolo said in an excited hushed sort of voice, pointing out over the sea.

Harry followed his finger out in the general direction of Boreray.

"Whoa!" Harry exclaimed as he saw what looked like a bubbling disturbance far out in the center of the pumice float. Puffs of smoke and ash were coming up periodically, but it suddenly became much more concentrated and consistently thick.

Another great disturbance flashed and the water began to disperse in rough waves around the growing plume of ash and smoke.

Then red.

Bright orange and red flashed and seemed to explode out into the sky, though a lot of it was quickly masked by a thick black plume of ash and smoke.

"WOO!" Harry exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. "Bloody hell, it's really happening!" he laughed and looked over to see Marvolo smiling quite widely as well. It wasn't the usual smug look of accomplishment Harry saw on the man's face - there was a spark of real glee in there as well. "We've manipulated tectonics and rerouted magma flows, and we've created a fucking volcano!" Harry went on, still laughing with a sense of astonished excitement. "Bloody hell, that's mental!"

"Harry, you're the most powerful wizard I've ever seen, and you're honestly surprised you can do this?"

"Oh come on… significant power reserves are one thing, but manipulating the planet itself is still insane! Even if it's just localized here. It still blows my mind. And the only reason I'm as powerful as this is because I've lived so damn long. I mean, I bet Nicholas Flamel would fall in line with me if you managed to get him to unleash his full power. He's even older than I am."

"Yes, but Flamel hasn't relived his childhood growth spurt eleven times. Honestly, I think you underestimate just how tremendous your own power is."

Harry rolled his eyes and refocused on the distant plume of ash, but he did have to admit, even if only to himself, that Marvolo had a point about the growth spurt. He hadn't really thought it through much, but with that in mind, it was quite possible he would overshadow another wizard, even if that wizard were half a century older than he'd lived.

"Okay, fine, but what about you? You're certainly not going through puberty any more, but your magical grown acceleration is even greater than mine. I mean, bloody hell! What was your magical growth like when you actually were a teenager? That had to be intense. No wonder it went to your head. Getting that much more powerful, so fast, when surrounded by a school full of children all growing at a normal rate. They had to have looked so pathetic to you."

"Mmm," Marvolo said nodding his head thoughtfully. "They really did. I couldn't understand how so many of the older students seemed as if they'd barely grown magically at all in comparison to the younger years. I didn't understand for quite a while that my magical core growth was just significantly accelerated from my peers. I thought they were all just lazy, or stupid. At some point I even realized that the professors were close to my level, and lower in a couple cases… it was a bit of a shock, and if anything, it irritated me. But then of course, it really just entrenched the notion that I was superior to the whole lot of them."

Harry chuckled. "That certainly helps to make a few things clearer, that's for sure." he let out a calm breath, staring out into the gradually lowering sun for a moment. "You know… I think the thing that amazes me the most about your current magical power level, is how young you are. You're this powerful, but you're so young. I mean, you're only seventy! And you're keeping stride with me! Of course, my power well is still a lot deeper than yours, but when it comes to output and manipulation of that power, you're right up there with me, and that's mental."

"Technically, I'm actually still only 69," Marvolo pointed out loftily.

Harry snickered and looked over at the other man who was now smirking at him.

"You know, Harry, it's kind of ridiculous. You're probably the only person who could call me young and I'd honestly believe you weren't just facetious. That blowheard Dumbledore has tried it, clearly trying to establish some sort of power via the reminder of past seniority. But you… well, you really are much older than I am, and there are certainly times when it's difficult to wrap my head around that. And nearly everyone else still sees you as a child. Severus and Lucius are beginning to see you more for what you really are, but I think even they have trouble wrapping their minds around it."

"Most people do," Harry said with a shrug. "Six centuries of life is such an abstract concept. Plus, most of the time right now I look like a fifteen year old. Even when I'm using an aging potion like right now, I look to be in my mid-twenties, and while someone actually in their mid twenties might feel like they're finally an 'adult', most people older than that, still think of 20-somethings as generally inexperienced in life.

"Even Severus, who has known the truth about my real age for years now, has trouble — mostly because he's seen me in my youthful body since the beginning of my time at Hogwarts. It's only this summer that he first saw me a little older with an aging potion. Appearances are hard to ignore, even if you know someone is technically older than they look."

The two spent another half hour just sitting on the hill, staring out over the horizon and watching the occasionally visible ejections of lava as it shot into the air, and the gradually growing black mound at the origin of the eruption. They talked and relaxed, and just basked in their accomplishment.

"We might really do it," Harry said softly, after a few minutes of comfortable silence had passed.

"I certainly intend as much. If I undertake an endeavor, I do so with the full expectation of succeeding."

Harry chuckled.

"I think I've been so focused on the whole process of creating the island that I was afraid to let myself really plan beyond that step, but I suddenly feel like throwing myself into city planning or something. It's ridiculous, really. It's going to be ages before we get the landmass large enough, and then there's the process of taking the field of lava rock and making it into a more desirable surface for habitation, before we really think about putting in a bunch of buildings… but I wonder — once we do get that far — what would be the best way to give some people incentive to move out here. I don't want to wait until trouble with the muggles really starts up and it becomes absolutely necessary that we move our whole populace out here. I mean, we'll definitely be getting an influx of hold-outs as refugees when the real shit hits the fan, but I want to migrate a significant population of wizards and other magicals living out here, long before the muggles discover us."

Marvolo nodded his head, making a thoughtful humming sound. "It'll take years before we finally start to get to that point. Although your remark on other magical does bring forth a point. At what point do we approach the Goblins? I'm of the opinion that we should request an audience with their highest official and actually disclose what's coming. Its the only way to get them to actually act on things. They're such a stubborn lot, but they also understand self-preservation."

Harry hummed and nodded. "Yeah, telling them the truth is a good idea. You've got a contact within the Goblins right now, right?"

"Yes, but I still suspect it's going to be a couple years before we get to the point of revealing all of this to them, and their ruling hierarchy changes quickly at times. It'll be best to just keep ties with them in general and approach who ever is at the top of the food chain when the time comes."

Harry chuckled. Sounds like a plan. Merlin… it's weird, but suddenly the idea of waiting a few years feels like torture. I want to do something now!"

"Yes, well, patience is a virtue," Marvolo remarked sarcastically. "Personally, I've never been much for patience myself. But there are times when we have no choice."

Harry sighed. "Yeah. There are times when it feels like time flies by in a flash, and it has such little meaning. But then there are other times when it feels like it's moving so slow. We've been keeping busy though, and that's been great. I'm kind of dreading going back to Hogwarts in the fall. I've legitimately considered just dropping out."

"You won't hear me argue against it," Marvolo drawled.

"I'm just afraid it'll be harder to be taken seriously over the next few years by the entrenched political sphere, if I do. I mean, I can still take my NEWT exams next summer, and that should be enough to convince any naysayers that I'm smart enough to have passed Hogwarts, but then people put a lot of emphasis on character and a person being able to finish something… I don't know. I mean, I want to be taken seriously by the other members of the Wizengamot, and a lot of them are very old fashioned and sticklers for tradition. Being able to say that I 'graduated' from Hogwarts - at an accelerated pace, no less - would be looked on much better than being considered a 'drop-out'."

"I think that you're professional writing gives you a boost in the respect department. If you were just some kid who dropped out a couple years early, and took your NEWT exams, and then got into the House of Lords due to inherited seats, I'm sure that they wouldn't respect you at all. But you're not just some kid."

"So you think I should drop out?"

Marvolo shrugged. "I'm biased. I don't want to part with you for ten whole months — of course I'm going to vote for the option that doesn't involving you running off to boarding school. But you do have a point about tradition. Respecting those traditions can impact cooperation within the House of Lords to a much greater degree than seems reasonable. And the ease with which we can accomplish our goals in the next few years, will play a big impact on getting things moving quickly. Really, it's just going to have to be up to you."

Harry sighed and let himself fall sideways a bit, so he was leaning against Marvolo's side, his head tilted over against the other man's shoulder. "I think I'll probably just give it a shot. You know? Like — I'll go, but if it ends up being too much of a bore and a pain in the arse, I'll bail early."

"Sounds reasonable."

Harry heaved a relaxed sigh and just stared out over the ocean and the gradually setting sun. The huge towering plumes of smoke were glowing a brilliant orange as they were blown off towards Boreray. They sat in silence for several long moments until Harry felt Marvolo shift. His hand reached around and lightly grasped Harry's chin, turning his head up as he himself bent down and gently kissed him.

Harry was only momentarily surprised by the action, but quickly returned the affection. It was a slow, languid kiss that drew on long and slow building. It wasn't a desperate chase, or a rush of passion, just comfortable and sensual. Harry shifted his own weight and twisted at his waist so he was better angled and the kissing deepened and continued on for an indeterminate amount of time. At some point, Marvolo maneuvered and guided Harry back, so he was laying on the grass beneath them, and the snogging pressed on, only now with more hands-on action, though things didn't really progress very far. It was just nice. It was comfort, and intimacy, and gentle.

Marvolo swung his leg up and over Harry, straddling him, and the two pressed on, slowly gyrating hips, and delicious friction, pushing them further, eventually leading to an increased pace and a slowly building desperation for more. Things seemed to come to ahead quite suddenly as clothing was fully shed, and the race to the finish hit just as the sun began to fully set beneath the horizon.

Some short time later, tired but content, Harry lay on Marvolo's shoulder, his arm laid out straight beneath Harry, and with Harry stretched up over Marvolo's side and chest. His eyes were dropping shut and he likely would have slipped off to sleep, but Marvolo spoke, drawing Harry's gaze.

"What was that?" Harry asked, his tone satisfied but somewhat drowsy.

"I want you to know something," Marvolo said and he shifted and turned a bit so that he and Harry could actually see each other's faces.

"Okay?"

"I think I've fallen in love with you."

Harry's eyes widened and his lips parted in silent shock, feeling very awake all of a sudden.

"H-what?" Harry stuttered.

Marvolo grinned and chuckled. "I never thought it was something I'd do. Love someone, I mean. I didn't think I even could feel this way about another person. But I do."

Marvolo reached over with his free arm and gently stroked his fingers against Harry's cheek. The gesture was so tender and intimate that Harry felt as if his breath had caught in his throat.

"I am a selfish, ambitious, and narrow-minded man. I'm stubborn, and arrogant. I know I'm not easy to get on with, on the best of days, and yet you seem to bring me down from my high-handed thrown, and see me for something else. And I like that. It's… endearing when it's you. Everything you do, even the things that should be utterly infuriating, are charming, instead. You captivate me. You have me utterly enthralled."

"Oh… wow," Harry said, clumsily, when he finally found enough air to push some sound out from his lungs.

"You know what my boggart used to be?"

Harry blinked, a bit thrown off by the odd question. "Your boggart?" he turned the question over in his mind for a moment, realizing that he knew what it would supposedly have been at some point. "Your own corpse?" he asked.

Marvolo ducked his head, grinning somewhat. "You know me so damn well… yes, Harry. My own corpse. But it's changed. I encountered a boggart a few days ago when cleaning out one of the manor's rooms for the escapees to inhabit."

Harry's brow furrowed, frowning at the other man for a moment.

"It's you now. Dead, I mean. My own mortality is no longer my greatest fear. It's the idea of loosing you that scares me more than anything else."

Harry's eyes widened, thrown for something of a loop by this sudden declaration. He didn't know what to say or do. He felt stunned, but also warmed — and then confused — and then comforted.

"I —" Harry began but his voice trailed off weakly.

"I look at you, and I feel warmth in my chest. I feel a deep fondness. It's finally sank in that this is much more than just coveting something powerful or rare." Marvolo paused, gently combing his fingers through Harry's hair, running his fingertips along Harry's scalp in a motion he'd clearly realized Harry enjoyed quite a lot. "I know I've thrown this at you rather suddenly, and I certainly don't expect you to come out and make any declarations of love, yourself. I just want you to know it, and I have one thing, that I want to ask of you."

"What?" Harry asked.

"If you, for whatever reason, decide to take Death up on the offer to end things prematurely — if you decide to end it — tell me first. I need a warning. Give me the chance to talk you out of it, no matter how badly you don't want to be talked out of it. Just… you owe me the chance to try. I…" his voice broke in a stunningly uncharacteristic way, and he turned his head, looking away from Harry and blinking several times very quickly.

Harry felt his heart pounding away in his chest so strongly, he felt sure that Marvolo could probably hear it.

Marvolo swallowed and turned his gaze back to Harry, seemingly having collected himself. "I don't want to lose this. I've never wanted something as bad as I want the future I see laying out before me now. And that future is impossible if you're not in it with me."

Harry felt as if the lump were now lodged in his throat, and he had to blink several times against the stinging that had suddenly materialized in his own eyes. He pulled in a long slow breath, churning the other man's unexpected declarations over in his mind for a moment.

'I certainly don't expect you to come out and make any declarations of love, yourself.'

The words echoed through Harry's mind and he suddenly realized he felt rather bewildered by his own stunned reluctance.

He met Marvolo's eyes and a shaky smile spread across his face. "You know what? I think I just might be falling in love with you too. I mean… I've been searching for a way to die for centuries. It's been the one thing that I've been focused and fixated on, for so long, and I've finally got the opportunity to do it… but the thought of leaving now… it's almost terrifying. It's like… this is the one that I want to count. This is the one that I want to… to matter. And that's because of you. It's completely because of you. You… you're my best friend." Harry laughed. "I'm not even sure how the hell it happened, but you are. I share everything with you. I look forward to sharing everything with you. And you're so bloody attractive, and you get me. And sex with you is just absolutely brilliant."

Marvolo chuckled this time.

"And I want this too," Harry continued, softer now. "This road I see appearing before us… I want it too. I don't want to die. That was the sole driving force of all of my actions for so long, that I've had trouble working out what my motivation should be now. But I do know what I want. I want this. I… I can live for this. So yes. I promise. If for whatever reason, at some point, I decide to give up and kill myself, I'll warn you. I'm come to you first. Because I want you to talk me out of it. And I think you're the only person who ever could."

Marvolo's face was softer than Harry had ever seen it, and the happiness in his eyes was clearly visible. Harry could feel the other man's relief flooding him, through their link, and understood just how much of Marvolo's fears, Harry's words alleviated.

Marvolo moved forward, kissing Harry deeply and gently, his hand threaded into Harry's hair and holding him tightly with both arms. Harry wrapped his own arms around the other man and enthusiastically returned the man's affections.

He still felt stunned by the sudden and unexpected declarations, but he was okay with that.

He didn't know what was to come of all of this… but he was hopeful. And he was excited. And that was new.

New and wonderful.

— — —

AN: Two chapters in two days. Woo. Don't expect another for a while. I've got 2 paragraphs written of it right now, so it's still got a ways to go.

Oh, and I'm coming up dry on ideas for what to do with Bellatrix. Is there anything specific you lot would like to see happen with her?