Understanding

Part 3


He was finally happy right where he was.

There was no war here. There was no fighting here, except when someone wanted to take their space at the foot of the tree that bordered the small stream.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked in a silky voice, breaking the silence, but not the mood.

Bright green eyes looked up into those of palest blue.

"I was thinking that this is where we both belong," the man explained. "Everything that we've gone through, this is like the ultimate prize to receive."

The other man nodded and wrapped his arms a little tighter around him. He put his chin in the messy, black hair. He took a deep breath, relishing in the scent of autumn and apples.

He couldn't agree more with the sentiment. Both of them had suffered through things that no one should ever have to go through. Their friends and family torn from them, although he was quite happy with that situation.

"Sirius?"

He looked down. Harry's green eyes were bright again, the dullness (caused by their enforced separation) having dropped from them a long time ago.

"Yes?"

"Could we go to the house later?"

Sirius sighed. That was one of things he didn't like about this place. He still couldn't see his friends. Instead, all they had was a few of their things that had somehow found their way here, imbued with some of their spirit. They had put them in a house a short walk down the road where they stayed, and Harry, more often than not, wanted to go there every couple of weeks - or at least it seemed like a couple of weeks. Time was often more confusing than trying to figure out the latest Muggle electronic device that ended up here. Not that either of them were consistent.

Still, he would indulge his lover. Sometimes it was refreshing to hear James talk once more, or to see Lily in a fine temper. But there were still times when he couldn't handle it, seeing or hearing them bringing the guilt that was inside him to a boiling point.

Nothing like when they discovered that Sirius and Harry were together.

In both ways.

It had come as a surprise when Sirius had looked up from the few things he had managed to obtain in that strange place he had been thrown into, to find Harry walking towards him. A mighty hell had been raised, and while Harry had confessed that he had often thought of just jumping in himself, he had been tossed in here by Malfoy the junior.

Neither of them had noticed while they were talking the scenery whirled around faster than the speed of light. In fact, it wasn't until they both heard a voice interrupting their argument that they acknowledge the fact they were no longer in that strange plane of existence.

And it had to be Avalon, a place that even the wizarding world had thought a myth. Moony had teased them when he had greeted them, that he had arrived because he knew we would be here eventually, but the two of them had to wait for the other. Even if this wasn't anything like the place they both thought they would end up, if they had thought about it at all.

But the scenery of this place had held a romantic air whenever the two of them were near each other. It had reminded Sirius of that single kiss he had given Harry, when he had asked if all kisses were like his first. He had been intensely jealous that he had missed it, later. After Harry had returned to Hogwarts after the holiday, Sirius had found himself wishing that he had been the one to give his godson his first kiss, and not some upstart Ravenclaw of a girl.

Harry wiggled slightly in his arms, bringing Sirius' attention back to his lover. It had been hard, seeing his lover stuck in his almost-eighteen year old body year in and year out. And that he was stuck in his thirty-seven year old body. At least, it had been until that night when they had been tossed into a locked room and told not to come out until they "finally shagged each other."

Moony had always had a weird sense of humor. Even if his now-separated wolf form did like to poke his nose in whenever Sirius had the notion to "shag" Harry in their spot. Pervert.

Sirius buried his nose in Harry's hair, content to smell that scent of autumn and apples, content to sit under their tree, even if Moony II had a terrible sense of timing, content in a way that he had never understood before, content to feel the warmth of Harry's body and heart, even in a place like this.

Fin.