Chapter 4

The spread before him was not fit for his social status. On land, not even a commoner would settle for such fare. The bread was hard, the cheese was moldy, the wine was moderate, and the meat was chewy. To the youngest Prince of Fray, it was unacceptable. To Astyr, it was a feast worthy of a king. Good company could remedy the worst of situations, he supposed.

They laughed and talked well into the night, getting more and more tipsy, finishing the food well after the little Princess had fallen asleep. Astyr had warned her that here, she was the only one with royal blood. She was smart and he knew she wouldn't betray his secret. Sometime around midnight, Harry posed a question, which caught Astyr thoroughly off-guard.

"My dear Spark, love o' my life, light of the night. Tell me, wherever the hell you come from, what are you? King? Prince? Noble? Cousin? How long you been a guard? Or is it soldier?"

Harry had had too much to drink. He recognized this when he realized his sober self would hate him later. He carefully set his glass down and vowed not to touch it.

Astyr knew Harry was joking when he mentioned all of the blue-blood titles. He could hear the amusement in his voice and understood Harry was expecting the details of his duty as a guard or soldier. He couldn't resist a tremble at the "love of my life" part but dismissed it immediately.

"Well what do you want me to be, Shag? Shaggy dog dog? I'm good at being a lap dog or maybe a cushion dog. Well certainly not a sheep dog. Do I look like a dog?"

Maybe he had had too much to drink as well.

Harry just grinned foolishly and looked over to his glass, which was now magically empty. What happened to that vow? He just shook his head confusedly and turned his head towards the other man.

"But what did you do?"

He looked fondly to his companion, realizing he had fallen asleep. He carefully lifted the young man up and placed him tenderly on his own bed. He decided he had better not try navigating the stairs and called for the night watch to assist him with the young princess.

Grabbing one of the pillows off the bed, and looking one last time over at what he thought was his-his something, Harry settled himself on the ground, truly content for the first time in a very long time.

Harry was up by 9 with a pounding headache. He carefully cracked open the door and quickly shut it as the light came streaming in. He could hear Oshald's guffaws from behind the wood. Slowly and ponderously, Harry eased himself into the daylight.

"I think the last time I slept this late, I was in third year and a dementor had tried to suck me off the night before." Harry grumbled sourly.

If anything, this only made Oshald laugh harder. Harry realized that none of his guests were up yet and took great pleasure in sending a jet of ice-cold water over at his overly amused first mate. Ignoring the man's sputtering, Harry found a bucket. He filled it with that same conjured water and unceremoniously dunked his head in it, utilizing his elemental powers to breathe. After about 5 minutes or so, Harry gave up and lifted his head out of the water.

The hilarity of the crew was infectious and Harry soon cracked a smile, although it was a somewhat painful one. The one person Harry never wanted to see in the morning, much less with a hangover, who certainly had never been up this early before anyway decided to grace him with her presence.

"Commander Facis! How good it is to see you on this lovely day." Her screech was almost more than Harry could bear. He looked over to her, tightlipped and teeth clenched.

"Princess."

She was wearing the most outrageous getup Harry had ever witnessed on a ship. It probably had petticoats. It was some sort of 'attractive' evening dress. Harry didn't doubt that it took her at least an hour to prepare.

"Won't you spend some time with me? That is why I agreed to accompany you on this trivial mission."

Harry snorted. She and her mother had practically forced themselves on him and his ship, almost to the point of rape. Harry wished she had stayed as far from him as possible. She really was a royal pain in the ass. He sighed. He supposed he was due for torture anyway, not having been captured for anyone's dungeon in a while. He remembered Lucious Malfoy's torture chamber and wondered if the experiences would be at all similar.

"Certainly. I realize that my duties have kept me away from you but now that my men have things under control, I can probably afford a moment of my time."

From her sweetly sadistic smile, Harry knew he had gotten himself in trouble. A moment turned into hours as she talked his ear off. He really tried to talk about something interesting but found her idea of interesting didn't really match up with his. Harry wanted to know about politics, magic, new ideas, and diverse peoples. Esmeralda wanted to know about Harry's titles, Harry's powers, Harry's exploits, and most importantly, how pretty Harry thought she looked today. Barring Harry, her main subject of interest was herself.

Astyr found himself in the captain's rooms around noon. He had awoken to an empty and spacious study with a bed to one wall in which he had slept. The pillow on the floor was evidence enough of where Harry had spent the night. Astyr blushed crimson. He remembered clearly what had been said the night before. His heart sank at the memory of Harry's teasing words. And even more when he realized that wine had clouded Harry's judgment. He probably regretted ever getting so informal around someone so lowly as Astyr. He had never wanted to impress someone with his titles before now. He knew he could not compromise Isabel's safety but wished desperately to be able to wear his most impressive formal clothes, speak in his highly cultured accent, and gaze in the powerful way he had picked up from his father. He wanted to strut and stand out and make Harry notice him.

He carefully left the captain's quarters. The crew didn't seem to notice. Their attention seemed to be mostly focused on either the task at hand (mostly repairing nets) or the couple standing close together at the bow. Astyr grimaced at the sight. There was his Harry, smiling into the face of the witch of the west.

Harry, it seemed, was animatedly talking to the girl who didn't seem nearly as engrossed as he was. She seemed keener on watching Harry's body move and sway.

Eyes off, he's mine! Astyr was a little surprised at the possessive thought. But then, why shouldn't he label the captain as his own? They were his own thoughts after all and he doubted he would ever be able to possess Harry in any other way. In your dreams, he thought bitterly.

"Well look who decided to get up!" Gary looked over at the despondent lad.

"Heya."

"Well don't just stand there moping! Get over here and start mopping! We have tons of work to do!"

Astyr immediately got to work. It would take his mind off of the practically married couple.

Harry was getting frustrated. He had tried to steer Esmeralda clear of self-centered topics. He had tried to animatedly rant about economics. He had even tried cajoling her into talking about horses with his patent grin. So far, he had gotten very little for his efforts. The girl was infuriating. She insisted on treating everyone like dirt except for him. He wished she would disdain him and leave him be. Glancing around pathetically for an excuse to escape, he caught sight of his late night drinking partner. A plan began to hatch in his mind. It might even give him an excuse to get a little closer to his favorite little spark. Harry waited for an opening.

"…And she said I was more of a leopard print kind of person than anything else. Oh don't you think it would be a wonderful theme for our wedding, Facis darling? I can call you Facis, right?"

Harry cringed. Gross. But as an opening, he would take it. "Actually, Esmeralda, There is something I have been meaning to tell you. You see…there will be no wedding. I have found that women do not suit me. I am far more attracted to the other side of things."

Here he winked cheekily.

"I don't understand." She said uncertainly.

"Well dear, it's been great chatting with you but I cater to a different sort of crowd. I like men. And not just men: common, dirty, rough types of men."

Here he licked his lips slightly. Oh this was fun.

"W—What?"

"I'm afraid it's true. I'm surprised you have never heard," He really was surprised, "But I have been gay since birth. I couldn't possibly marry you." He sighed regretfully.

"I do not believe it."

Phase 2.

"Ah but you must. I spent the night with our dear Astyr. He was really the best I've ever had. I think I am growing to love him."

It was not hard to feign love sick eyes directed at the boy scrubbing the deck. Esmeralda simply sputtered.

"Come, I will show you." With that, Harry happily walked toward the stern, Esmeralda following in his wake.

Harry came right over to Astyr and, in a forced sultry tone, said, "Hey, lover."

Astyr froze. Had he dozed off? Was this some magnificent daydream in which Harry would make passionate love to him? He looked over at the commander. Harry winked conspiratorially to him. Play along, he seemed to say.

"I am so sorry, Esmeralda, but it's true. I have gone and fallen in love with him."

Here, he came up to Astyr and flung an arm around him, hugging his head to him and kissing his temple. Then he stared defiantly over at the princess. Astyr went still with shock.

"Come now, my love. She knows. There's no need to pretend any longer." There was an urgent quality to his voice, which Astyr immediately picked up on.

Ok.

"Oh Commander."

He said it fondly, knowing this was what the princess called Harry. He had picked up the night before that she didn't actually know Harry's name. Astyr had felt privileged with this knowledge. Now he sighed and leaned into Harry, preventing himself from leaning more than was needed for the act.

"Ooohhgg!" The princess cried out and ran for her cabin.

After her door closed Harry let out a triumphant whoop. He began jumping and danced Astyr around the deck, the crews' laughter providing the music for this triumphant waltz. Astyr laughed as well.

"No more! No more 'Commander!' No more whining, No more evilly fluttering eyelashes!" Harry was ecstatic.

Astyr was trembling slightly from the kiss, unable to think of anything beyond the warmth and softness he had felt so tenderly pressed to his temple. He allowed Harry to swing him about, happily sharing in Harry's triumph.

The day was spent tranquilly with both men scrubbing the deck, contributing in the jokes from the soldiers and telling old stories. Everyone seemed to be from somewhere different and all of them had an old wives tale to tell. Harry had to modify his a little to be more adjacent to this world's advancement but he suspected that Vera, The sole female soldier he had on board, would have a harder time of it than he, coming from a very futuristic civilization. All of the men steered clear of Lord Facis tales.

Lunch and dinner was delivered to Esmeralda's cabin after her high-pitched scream demanded food. Nothing more of the princess was seen or heard and the crew thanked Harry repeatedly for this day's respite. Sunset saw little Isabel getting sleepy, having spent her day in the crow's nest with the sentries. She came over to Astyr who was speaking amicably with Harry and a soldier named Cole.

"Ast-er."

"Yes, Bel?"

"Will you tell me a story?" She demanded sleepily.

"You bet."

The girl settled down in Astyr's lap and he smiled fondly down at her.

"Once upon a time, in a distant land that nobody here has ever seen, a little boy went to school. His real name has been lost to us but the world calls him Facis."

Harry tensed. Cole had the presence of mind to leave.

"He was only 12, just a few years older than you."

Isabel hummed in agreement.

"He was loved by all and everyone idolized him. One day, he stumbled upon a dead cat. It was the headmaster's dearest cat. Beside the cat was a message, written in blood on the wall. 'Ye who so reads this, beware! The chamber has opened!' Facis turned to run but found his way blocked by his classmates. 'You!' they accused. 'You have done this!' Facis protested but they would not hear otherwise. Unable to prove it, they shunned him. He became untouchable and hated. Facis was determined to find the killer."

And so Astyr told the tale of how Facis had stumbled upon each body of dead students in the hallways of the school in search of the horrible killer. He described how, on all hollows eve, he had heard the voice from the walls. How he had followed the voice and discovered his very best friend killed by the horrible murderer. The student body began to retaliate against the innocent boy, hurling insults and hateful words. He traveled into a dense forest, battling all sorts of creatures, including centaurs and sentient trees, in search of someone who knew who the killer was.

Finally, one day in the same place the cat had been killed, Facis found the message 'she shall remain in the chamber forever!' and discovered that his sister was missing. Facis ran into the huge room adjacent to the bloodied words and saw a snake on the wall. He told it to open, and found that his words came out in hisses. He could talk to snakes! Facis ran through the opening and found a basilisk and the evilest sorcerer in the world, Voldemort. He battled both and won but not without paying the price of a basilisk fang stuck into his heart.

"Dying, Facis did an amazing thing! He summoned to him a phoenix. The phoenix, seeing the poor dying boy, cried for the child with such a valiant and brave heart. The tears flowed over the boy."

"Oh no! He didn't die did he Aster?? Did he?"

"I don't know…" He teased, "He might have…"

"Oh Aster!"

"He didn't die. No, the tears seeped into the boy's heart. So touched was his heart, that it healed and the venom was expelled from his veins. He carried the girl from the chamber and, covered in the blood of the 100-foot basilisk, and carrying his mighty sword, Facis explained everything to the headmaster. He was regaled as a hero. And the little girl and Facis lived happily to see the dawn."

Astyr watched his sister smile and close her eyes, giving into sleep's quiet embrace. Grinning with love, he looked up to Harry who had been listening to the story with an unreadable expression.

Harry had heard the entire thing. It was a very much cut up, edited, and improved version of his second year at Hogwarts. How the hell had that gotten out?

He was coming to sadly realize that here he was a myth. Here, his adventures were told to tuck children in at night. He wasn't real. He could never be real for Astyr. When he found out that the man he had shared nicknames and wine with was actually the legendary Facis, their companionship would suffer. At home he was a modern hero. Here, he was a distant, cold, and possibly dead hero. He was Achilles, Ulysses, Jason. The black knight. He sighed sorrowfully, not really noticing Astyr's odd look.

"Do you think he exists?"

The inquiry was quiet and Harry almost didn't catch it.

"I…"

He didn't know what to say.

"I suspect if he is alive, he is very old. I doubt he is though. More likely, he is dead and long gone. I heard that he visited this world once. The gossip in the markets spoke of Haven. I think it's foolish. He is probably too important to visit our world." He watched Harry closely.

"Don't be so quick and assuming, boy." Oshald had joined the conversation. "I myself have seen Facis. He is human, around your age, and very much alive."

"But that's impossible! He could not have accomplished so much in such a short life!"

Oshald's response covered up Harry's snort.

"Sure he could. Besides, most of what you hear is either exaggerated or takes place over longer or shorter periods of time than the legends say. For example, that story you just told? About the chamber of secrets? You said it happened over the course of an entire year? It really happened over a few months. And some of these legends overlap. You've heard of the legend of Aragog? The flying Coche? The Cornish pixies? These things all happened around the same time."

Harry was blushing quietly outside of the conversation.

"And you have met him? You have met Facis?"

"Certainly. We grew up in the same world. I knew him since he was 11. We didn't talk too much but I was around up until I left school." Oshald was being a bit daring. They had agreed to change their names in order to keep their birth names among friends. They wouldn't have told Astyr Harry's if Harry hadn't expressed interest in the boy.

Astyr stared. He knew Oshald a bit by now. He knew the man wasn't lying. He was a horrible liar and Astyr doubted he would have thrown away 20 gold coins pretending that he was bad at it. But this was unbelievable.

"Are you telling me you were around for these legends to occur?"

"Well, really only his first two years of school. I graduated and managed to miss the rest of his adventures at Hogwarts. I was around for the sorcerer's stone, the baby dragon, his first contact with elves, the forbidden forest exploits, his animagus training, the flying keys, the giant chess set, the three headed dog, the potions riddle…" Oshald continued ticking them off.

Harry got redder and redder.

Finally Astyr stopped the man from continuing. "And you say he is my age?"

"Yea."

Astyr let out a low whistle. So this idol was somewhere out there doing things no other human could possibly do and he was only 19 years old. This guy had to be a bloody genius. He knew Isabel was in love with the man in the legends. Probably, she would grow into puberty and the love would evolve into a crush. Astyr wasn't exactly sure why he himself wasn't crushing on this godly man. Then he knew. Because behind him sat a tangible man with real feelings. His touch was real and he breathed like no legend could. Astyr wanted Harry. Not some Hercules.

"Good night Commander."

"Good night Astyr…" Harry responded faintly.

Oshald came over to Harry once the boy had left.

"Do you hate me Harry?"

"No Flint, I don't hate you. But you really are a bloody manipulative Slytherin."

Oshald grinned, pleased with himself.

"Yea. But now the legend is more human. Perhaps he can accept you when he finds the truth."

"I cannot allow myself to think that. I wish that he would never find out. But that would be lying to him and I can barely do that now as it is." He sighed in frustration.

"But remembering those good old times sure is wonderful, isn't it Potter?"

"Yea. Yea it is."

"Gnight, Facis."

"Good night, Oshald."

Harry woke and stared up at the beams of his ceiling. He wasn't sure what prompted him to wakefulness but he knew it was still dark out. The silence of the ship and the stillness of the air indicated nighttime. With a whoosh of breath he got out of bed and headed out the door. He didn't bother with shirt or shoes. The night didn't stand on ceremony.

Outside, he breathed in the clear air and looked up to the moon. It was waxing and didn't strike any particular note in him. He toed the planks of the deck and shivered slightly from the cold. Looking around, Harry spotted the watchmen and waved them off. Nothing wrong, just a late night stroll to clear the head.

Harry slowly walked the length of the deck. There wasn't much to see or do within 100 feet. He walked anyway. As he passed the main mast, he paused as he caught sight of a bit of fabric. He pursued it, circling the mast and coming upon the most adorable sleeping guard of his dreams. It appeared as though the young man had been reading a book when he drifted off. Sighing, Harry wondered what fate wanted from him.

Nervously, Harry swept a hand at his fringe, first pushing it back and then flattening it down as he remembered his scar. How Astyr had missed it, Harry didn't know. Maybe his scar wasn't known here. It seemed that a lot of his history was warped in this world.

Wishing he had put on a shirt but not quite pathetic enough to go get one, Harry crouched and nudged Astyr awake.

Astyr blinked blurrily and then focused on Harry's torso. It was dark but the edges of his muscles were highlighted in the moonlight. A dark patch on one shoulder looked like a tattoo but Astyr didn't have enough time or light to see what it was.

"Am I dreaming?"

"I dunno Sparkle. Am I always half-naked in your dreams?"

"I—" Astyr stopped. Usually it was a full body thing.

"Common, you fell asleep."

Harry's voice was quiet and unhurried. It had a rusty quality that most men have after waking. Astyr enjoyed the sound and the site before him.

Waking more fully, he asked "Why are you half-naked anyway? And what time is it?"

"I didn't bother with a shirt, didn't think I would run into anyone. As for the time, I have no idea."

"mmm…" Astyr couldn't think of a better response at that moment.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh. It's a book on Fray. It is a general guide. I think Vera was reading it as a study in case she needed to know something."

"You must know everything in that book."

"Yes. But it's nice to read about it. To remember it as it was."

"Was?"

"Fray has fallen."

"The city has. But the country survives. The people are alive."

Astyr shook his head even as he spoke.

"My country is a small one, Harry. It will not take long for the dark army to overrun. Prince Fenton will have to retake it from his enemies. I do not anticipate witnessing that battle. They didn't invade for a bit of land, you know. They came to take the magic."

"What? Take the magic?"

"The inherent magic of Fray. The creatures, the land, the very stones of each wall; all of it is infused with an inherent magic. Creatures thrive there. We have the largest population of wizards and witches of any other three nations combined. Granted, most leave to practice elsewhere, but the country of their birth gives them life. Fray is more than a symbol of light. It is everything the dark greeds for but cannot have. It is purity and natural beauty. Fray will die very soon in the arms of the dark."

"I keep forgetting. Everyone in Fray is educated. You sound like a king, the way you speak of your home."

Astyr could say nothing to this.

"I'm sorry. For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry you lost it. I'm sorry you lost your home."

Astyr shuddered. He shook from withheld sobs. His home. His world. Gone. Shaking, he turned away from Harry who extended a hand as though to touch him.

"Good night, Harry." Astyr spoke softly, giving the man the opportunity to walk away.

Harry had never been good with dealing with people when they were upset. He never knew what to do. Now however, Harry knew exactly what he was going to do. As Astyr said goodnight, Harry knelt beside him. He reached his arms around the man and pulled him close. He laid his head upon his shoulder and didn't move. He rubbed his arms and back, staying there, steady as a rock.

Initially Astyr froze, unable to think beyond the arms encircling him. He was so unprepared for it that he didn't know what to do or where to go from there. But then the world caught up to him and he felt the pain of his loss and of his father's death. He felt the pain and the very knowledge that Harry was there to hold him sent him over the edge.

Astyr cried as he had never before. A hole that he hadn't wanted to notice ached horribly in the darkness of the night.

A/N So I don't know if you read this before I changed it but this last part was never there. I felt like I needed something to bond them and, since I've been a bit homesick recently, I thought Astyr wasn't being as distraught as he should be regarding his entire life turning upside down. I cant really imagine how I would feel if my parents died or my hometown blew up. Suicide would be my first thought.

Tell me what you think.

Just a warning, this chapter is longer than any other I've written or am planning to write.