Chapter Two

Harry watched the waves undulate on the sea from his cabin room window. Neville had had the bright idea of taking a muggle cruise ship to America, saying that they needed a proper holiday.

Harry had been sea-sick the entire time. It seemed, as a general rule, that most modes of transportation did not agree with Harry, magical or otherwise. Harry made a face at the sight of the rolling waves, and turned his back to the window.

It was just him and Neville that were on holiday- Luna and Draco had stayed behind in the UK to take care of things. They both were staying at Draco's manor, which was quite the scandal once the papers found out- they were now full of speculations of when the couple was going to marry. As a retaliation, Draco was going to buy Witch Weekly out. That seemed to be the boy's answers to most of their problems, nowadays.

Draco and Luna had no inclination to marry anytime soon- there was enough to be done. Harry and Neville had left, to start their trip abroad. They would start in the US, as the US had a number of magical schools. Harry was also serving as the 'ICW Ambassador', so he was prepared for a bunch of political crap to be coming his way in the very near future.

Sometimes he wished he could be just like any other muggle. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He heard the shower turn off in the loo.

"These little soaps that they have in here are shaped like sea shells- isn't that odd?" Neville called out from the loo.

Harry stifled a smile, watching the boy come out of the loo, drying himself off. He gave his boyfriend a once-over. He recognized the look on Neville's face, and his hand tightened on his dressing robe.

"Neville, don't you dare- we can't be late for dinner again, you know how those Dining room people are." Harry said, getting up from the bed quickly. He darted around the boy, but was caught.

"Oh, I was only going to kiss you." Neville breathed, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy from behind.

Harry's breath hitched as Neville kissed the nape of his neck. "Uh huh…that's what you always say…kissing leads to snogging, snogging leads to groping, and groping…uhm…" A hand slid into his dressing robe, and he wriggled a bit. "Hey…not nice." He mumbled, voice dropping.

"Oh? It's not?"

"Nev-stop, we have to go to dinner…please…." He whined, and Neville sighed, and pulled away.

"I guess you're right. I'll get dressed. You better get dressed too."

As they sat down at their table, they were seated with the family from the previous evening- they hadn't really talked much to Harry and Neville, as they were too busy talking about going to see Disney World in Florida.

Tonight, however, Harry noted that their older daughter was glancing his way as he buttered his bread. Her eyes caught his, and she blushed.

"I like your hair." She squeaked.

Harry smiled. "Thanks."

The Mother and Father exchanged a slight glance, which was noticed by Harry and Neville. "I'm Wendy, and this is my husband Greg, and this is Jessica, Daniel, and Louise." She motioned to her three kids.

Neville grinned. "I'm Neville, and this is Kit." He motioned to Harry.

"So…are you guys here by yourselves?" Daniel asked. " 'Cos we haven't seen your parents, and families are always sat together-"

Harry blushed, and Neville spoke up, putting his arm on the back of Harry's chair. "Actually, we are. Our parents are dead."

"Oh, how terrible. I'm so sorry." Wendy said.

Harry spoke up. "It's okay. Mine died when I was just a baby, so I-"

"Wait, you aren't brother and sister?" Jessica asked.

Harry and Neville burst into laughter right away, making several of the waiters and restaurant goers glance their way.

"No! We're together." Neville said with a grin, squeezing Harry's shoulder.

Wendy and Greg gave them an appraising look. Jessica looked at them curiously.

That night, Neville dragged Harry to Karaoke. It was for the teen-age group, since the adult karaoke was likely to just have a whole bunch of drunk people there. Jessica and Daniel, who were old enough to be in the teen group, were sitting awkwardly off to the side along with the rest of the teenagers. Harry and Neville were curled up on a couch, watching a group of giggling girls up on the platform, singing an off key rendition of "My Heart Will Go On"

Neville lent over. "Let's show 'em how it's done."

"Neville…I can't, I'm not feeling well…"

"You love to sing, it'll make you feel better, I promise…" Neville said, taking Harry's hand and dragging him to the DJ's booth. The two of them chose a song, and Harry finally agreed to Boombastic By Shaggy. Neville had insisted that they choose a fun song- it looked as though some of the kids were half asleep.

The two of them waited offstage for the girls to finish their…song. Harry unbuttoned his jacket from dinner, while Neville shed his and draped it over a railing. They exchanged a look as they were handed microphones, and went up on stage.

Harry started off first, waving his arm up to get people up and moving, Neville copying him. The teenagers looked slightly bewildered, and a little bit more awake. As the song went on, Harry stopped mid-stage, and put his hand on his hip and started to dance, getting into it. People were soon clapping and cheering along, and Harry felt better than he had in a while…maybe Neville had been right. Singing was just what he needed!

By the end of the night, they'd sung a few more songs, and some of the other teenagers had gotten up the courage to go up on stage too. Harry finished off the night with a song from Deelite- Groove Is In the Heart. He'd sequestered a mike stand, and was belting into it, dancing like mad. By that time, some of the adults had wandered in, since their Karaoke time was after the teen's time. His voice was raw as he finished the last stanza, and they asked for more. With a slight smile, he gave it to them.

The following morning, Harry was doing some laps around the lido deck, feeling loads better. Neville was keeping pace with him, and they were talking about the night before. Some people they'd seen the night before waved to them. They both waved back, ignoring their curious looks- Harry was wearing a pair of muggle sweatpants and a jacket, and it didn't do too much to hide his lack of curves.

On and off, all day, teenagers were grinning at them, waving at them- it was a bit weird. At dinner, Jessica looked very excited as they sat down. "Are you guys in a band?"

Harry picked up his menu, thanking the waiter with a small grin playing at his lips. Neville was chuckling, trying not to notice how Wendy rolled her eyes at her daughter.

"Uh, actually, we are. We're not big or anything." Harry said.

"Yet." Neville said with a relish.

Harry rolled his eyes. "We're much too busy right now to be dealing with that-"

"Are you guys going to Uni or something?" Jessica asked.

Neville spoke up. "Actually, we're going to the US to look at some schools. We finished school early."

"Wow…so you're like, really smart then!" Jessica enthused.

Both Harry and Neville shrugged.

"Now really, Jess, stop pestering-"

"What's the name of your band?" Jessica asked.

"Forbidden. We played at the Blackbox in London, usually during the holidays-"

"No way! My friend Kim saw you guys last summer!"

"How on earth did Kim get into a club? She's only fifteen!" Wendy gasped.

Jessica blushed immediately, realizing she'd ratted her friend out.

"We're seventeen." Harry and Neville said in unison. They glanced at each other, grinning.

"Really? But…but you're so, so…grown up!" Jessica exclaimed, her hands narrowly missing the waiter as he refilled their glasses.

Harry fiddled with his fork, eyes dropping to his plate. Neville coughed. Yeah, they were a bit more mature than most people their age…they kind of had to be, considering everything they'd gone through. Their food arrived, and dinner was a bit awkward.

That evening, Harry and Neville walked into the ice cream parlor, hand in hand, when they saw the Teen group all sitting together with their counselors. One of the counselors waved them over, grinning madly.

From the beginning of the cruise, they had been trying to avoid these counselors- they were just a bit too happy. And nosy.

"Kit, right?"

Harry nodded, and Neville started to put their sundaes together.

"So, is that short for something? Katie, or Catherine?" The girl asked brightly.

Harry blushed. "It's just…Kit." Neville chuckled under his breath.

"We're all going to head up to the pool deck later on, you two want to join us?"

Neville glanced at Harry. "Uhm…no, that's okay. We already had plans."

Some of the boys in the group snickered at this. "He thinks he's gonna get shagged…" One of them whispered. Harry caught it, and frowned.

"Oh, come on, don't be spoil sports, if you don't want to swim, you don't have to!" One of the counselors said, frowning at the boys.

"Um…Kit?" Harry shrugged, taking his ice cream from Neville.

"If you want to, that's fine, Nev."

Two hours later, they headed to the pool. Harry was wearing what he'd worn earlier that evening, while Neville had changed into some swim trunks and a tank top. As they came on deck, some of the girls practically salivated as he took of his shirt.

Harry sat on one of the lounge chairs, watching the other teenagers splash about in the pool. Neville gave him a kiss on the top of his head, and headed over to the pool. Harry laced his fingers together, watching them. His lips dropped into a frown as Neville jumped into the pool.

He watched for a while, and a few girls approached him, and sat across from him on the lounge chair next to him.

"Hi! So, um, aren't you going to swim?"

Harry glanced at their cute bikinis and bared skin, and looked back down at his lap, thinking of his male-ness and his scars. "No. I um…don't really swim."

"Go grab your suit, we could teach you, it's not that hard…"

Harry shook his head, thinking of another time, back at Hogwarts-

"It's okay…"

One of the girls glanced over to Neville, and giggled. "Do you want your boyfriend to teach you? I bet he'd do it."

Harry fidgeted. "Yeah….he would. I just…um, don't feel comfortable, with everyone here."

"Oh! You're so pretty, though, you don't have to worry about that-"

Harry stood. "I'm going to go for a walk." He left the girls behind, and glanced back at Neville who was talking to some boys.

Apparently there was a talent show. Jessica had shoved an application in front of their faces at dinner one night.

"You should totally do it! The deadline is tonight, and the show will be on the last night of the cruise, c'mon, you would be totally wicked!"

Harry took the application, if only to shut her up. People were staring again. Harry and Neville looked over the application. Besides the basics- Name, ect. There was a section to write in what talent they wanted to do, how much time they would need, and if anything was needed. There was also a list of prizes- The Grand prize was $100, First runner up was $50, and the other prizes were cards for the gift shop. There were also separate prizes for kids, ages 12 and under. Harry and Neville exchanged a glance. Why not?

Harry stood on the stage next to the other talent contest hopefuls, watching the Entertainment crew bustle about, getting things ready for rehearsal. Well, if you could call it that. They had a limited amount of time to practice, and they were given a limited amount of music they could do- they didn't want to offend anyone, nor did they want the show to be boring, either. Harry chose a B-52's song, while Neville chose a Janet Jackson song (surprisingly). Harry and Neville thought they would have a better chance of winning a prize if they performed separately. They were going to sing, for the first time, by themselves, in front of an audience. Harry was dreadfully nervous.

The night arrived, and the first act was an older woman who was singing a Mariah Carey song. She was pretty good, and it was clear to Harry that she was classically trained. Neville squeezed his shoulder, wishing him luck as he headed out for his own performance.

Neville had chosen Janet Jackson's Control, but had totally revamped it. It was slow, and Merlin, his voice was like velvet…it made his toes curl up in his shoes. He could hear some whistles and catcalls from the audience, and Harry could see why- Neville looked oh so hot in his leather pants and black t-shirt.

He was totally going to lose.

One of the girls that was standing next to him spoke up. "You're so lucky! He's so cute! How long have you guys been together?"

"About five years." Harry mumbled, still staring at his boyfriend.

"Wow, really? You guys don't look that old."

"We got together when we were twelve." Harry blushed. He fiddled with his guitar a bit.

The girl seemed to squeal a bit as Neville gyrated his hips, crooning into the microphone. Harry's eyes went round. As he finished off the song, he practically stalked off the stage, and headed straight for Harry. Harry had barely enough time to hand his guitar off to the girl before Neville pushed him up against the wall and snogged him.

The girl coughed, and Harry was brought back to the present. The next contestant was already on stage, a comedian (of sorts). The girl was blushing as she shoved Harry's guitar back into his arms.

"Uh…thanks." Harry said. He turned to Neville. "You were pretty good, Nev."

Neville just gave him a grin, and pinched his bottom. After another singer went on, it was Harry's turn.

Neville was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, as he watched Harry begin to perform. People knew the song right away, and they began to clap along.

"Oh, I know this song!" The girl next to him said brightly. "This is that Love Shack song!"

Neville nodded, watching Harry saunter around the stage, swinging his hips in time to the music. His hair was down, and he was wearing an oversized dark red sweater, his black shorts, and black opaque tights with his boots.

"Wow…she's really good!"

Neville grunted in agreement, watching Harry belt out the chorus- people were joining in now. He was still in awe sometimes how music could transform a crowd- good music, that is.

Harry let out a riff on his guitar, and the singing dropped off as people stared. The boy bowed his head, hair hanging down as his fingers flew over the frets- Neville knew that he was going to fuck Harry the soonest chance he got tonight- he grinned as Harry threw his head back, hair flying, black and dark red shining in the stage lights… beautiful.

He sang the next stanza, and people picked up where'd they left off, and he shook his bum to the beat- and the music seemed to get louder, and louder- Neville moved forward slightly, grinning like mad. Harry was going to win, he just knew it. Harry winked at him as he caught his eye, and Neville chuckled.

"You're both really good…are you guys professional?"

"We're in a band. Kit's the lead singer. We're not really…professional, but we've played at a couple of places."

"Well, you should totally go pro, hey, I think they record this show for the videos they sell to everyone at the end of the cruise, isn't that cool? You'll both be on everyone's videos!"

Neville's eyes went round. "Well, um…they probably wouldn't know who we were anyways."

There was a loud burst of applause, and Harry practically ran off stage right, and glomped Neville.

"Bloody hell, did you see that Nev, that was just-"

"It was amazing. You were amazing, Kit." Neville said, hugging the boy gingerly, mindful of the guitar.

"You were good too."

"I bet you'll win." The girl said, staring at Harry with bright eyes. "They liked Neville too, but they liked your song better- and you were so wicked on that guitar!"

There were a couple more contestants to go, and finally, the Entertainment Director stood on stage, holding an envelope.

"Well, our judges have spoken…." She paused dramatically, opening the envelope. "And the winner is…Kit Potter!"

Harry was pushed out onto the stage by Neville, and Harry gave a slight smile to the woman as she handed over the check.

"There you go! Congratulations, Kit, on your excellent performance!"

Harry stared at the check in his hands. Damn. Would he be able to even cash it?

Meanwhile, Draco's face was buried in his hands as he sat in his bed. It was in the middle of the night, and the Manor was silent. Luna was the only person in the house besides himself, and she was fast asleep. They were sleeping in the room he grew up in- he didn't dare go into his parent's rooms.

Right now, he could only think about his Mother…and his Father. It had been different, when he'd been at the Manor before- he'd never lingered long enough to think about being alone at the house. He wasn't really alone, but it…felt like it. He lifted his head slightly to look at Luna. She looked so beautiful…so peaceful. How could she stand it? How could she stand being alive when the rest of her family was dead? He just…didn't understand.

Yeah, his Father had been a bastard, but once upon a time, Draco had looked up to the man. To know that there were also two infants killed in all this mess really messed Draco up. His Mother and Father were buried in the family grounds, their infants right next to them. He'd never seen the graves, but he knew that they were there. He didn't want to see them.

He bowed his head, gripping his hands tightly, trying to keep from making a sound as tears slipped from his eyes. Part of him wished he'd been able to go with Harry and Neville on their trip, but he had things here he needed to do.

He wiped his face, and laid back down. Luna curled up against him in her sleep with a sigh. He ran a hand through her hair, still feeling out of sorts. Soon….soon, Harry and Neville would come back, and they'd get to go on their own trip. Maybe he and Luna would get to go to China- she'd always wanted to go there, and he would certainly never say no.

He stared at the ceiling, eyes tracing the patterns of shadows that were cast from the window. This place reminded him of so...many things. His mother would kill him if he destroyed it- this land had been in their family for over a thousand years. This was the room he'd grown up in, this house was where he learnt to play the piano, where he had his lessons, where...there were good memories to this place, he realized. Not many, but there were some. He rolled over to face Luna. Maybe he could make some more. A small smile played on his face.

Harry and Neville followed Mike and Sam through the hallways of Salem Magical Institute, taking in everything with excited eyes. The building looked like any other muggle school, completely blending in with the rest of the buildings on the street. The two Americans were explaining what classes were taught there, and the levels. They went upstairs, and stopped in front of a classroom.

"This is the lab- my pride and joy!" Mike said excitedly. Sam rolled his eyes.

"We do have some projects we've been working on that you guys will love." He said, opening the door. The four of them went inside, and watched a number of students working on a number of projects at separate tables.

"Mike and I made this lab a few years back, with the approval of the staff, of course. They've even added it to the class schedule as an elective. This class goes hand in hand with what you're trying to do, Harry- modernize the magical world."

Harry grinned, seeing a kid working on a computer motherboard. "This is so cool!"

"Yeah, well, now there's another lab in San Francisco, the copy cats. Now that we have you two here, we were thinking you could help us out." Mike said.

Harry looked as though he was about to jump in and work on something right there, but Neville held him back. "You know we have alot to do- we aren't even supposed to be here- the ICW made a schedule for us-"

"Which we're not going to follow! Nev, please, please, let me just-"

"Kit-" Neville warned.

Harry pouted, looking longingly at the gadgets on the tables. Some of the kids glanced curiously their way. Sam introduced them.

"Kids, this is Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom-" Many of the students gasped, and some of them stood, ready to shake their hands.

Sam fixed them with a look, making many of them hesitate. "They're here to take a look at what we've done so far. They have a limited amount of time to be here with us today, so please don't pester them."

Harry approached one of the kids, who was taking apart a cell phone. The girl glanced up at him nervously. "Uh...hello."

Harry smiled. "Hi. What are you working on?"

"Um...cell phones don't normally work because of magical interference, but I wanted to see if I could get one to do it anyways."

Harry looked at the bits of plastic and metal that were scattered on the table. It was a good idea. A magical cell phone would definitely cut out the need for floo calls, which were messy and inconvenient- and you had to make sure there was a fireplace close by. "Well, the best way to do that is to work with the magical interference, instead of against it. Have it run on magic, instead of electricity. Amplify its magical radius by introducing some magical wood, or other materials."

The girl stared at him, and Mike clapped him on the shoulder. "Harry, you should really write a book about all this. For this class, our textbooks are muggle books, rune books, and material books, but we don't have anything to combine the three. You'd be the best person to write it, since you're the one who started it all."

"Well...I learnt almost everything through trial and error, or from Hagrid." Harry said, feeling a bit surprised. He hadn't really started all this... this was Mike and Sam's work. Why would they think it was his idea?

"Hagrid?" Mike asked.

Sam spoke up. "A half-giant that is the groundskeeper at the school. How is everyone, by the way?"

Neville wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Well, the classes are being held in tents, and everyone...seems to be doing okay. We tested out early, but you already know that."

"Yeah, it was reported in the papers here too. So, where you two headed next?"

"D.C. To go visit your Father. We'll be staying the night there, and then we're going to go to Providence for a few days, then New York for a week. Then we'll go on to Chicago, St. Louis, Baton Rouge, Santa Fe, and Berkeley. I guess we'll go to San Francisco too, to go see that lab you're on about." Harry added with a relish.

Mike gave him a mock glare. "Well, Dad's gonna be a bit busy- there might be a lot of reporters about- this is an election year, you know."

Harry made a slight face. "Your Dad is too cool to be a politician."

Luna put her hands on her hips, staring down Scrimengour and the other Aurors. The Headmaster, McGonagall, and Snape stood right next to them. "This Forest is a sanctuary deemed by Helga Hufflepuff herself. If you enter this forest, you will be violating Code 21.7 of the Magical Species Protection Act." She said coldly.

"Miss Lovegood, be reasonable, we have reason to believe that there are valuable resources within the Forest that will help fund the new school-"

"No." Luna said. There were plenty of valuable resources within the forest, but she knew that the Ministry would ravage that forest, without a care of the creatures within it. She couldn't let them inside- at all.

"I'm sure Draco would understand- this is just a business proposition, no one person owns this forest-"

"Hogwarts owns this land, and this forest. The Ministry does not own this land or forest. It cannot be sold, nor can any of the resources here." Luna cut in. There was a reason why Draco wasn't here- he was in Diagon Alley, trying to buy out the Witch Weekly offices. Draco was very good at business, and the heart, but Luna knew it would be easier for her to stand up to the Minister than he- after all, her family didn't have the history that could be used against her. There was a rustling in the trees behind her. Some of the Aurors looked a bit nervous. Who knew what was there?

"Miss Lovegood-"

Firenze came out of the trees, and many of the Aurors' wands snapped to large palomino that was looking at them calmly, the bright red feathers braided into his hair was blowing slightly in the cold wind. He had his bow and arrows strapped to his back, and with his head held high, like any other warrior would.

Firenze looked at all of them calmly. "Miss Luna speaks the truth. Helga Hufflepuff made this land a sanctuary. If you break your honor, the citizens of the forest will break their peace. We have done our part to clear the lands, and provide the space for the students to learn, but now that the school is no longer here, you have no reason to be here, humans."

Dumbledore stared at Firenze. "But your clan has been peaceful for quite some time, I thought we came to an agreement, Firenze-"

"No more, Dumbledore. Leave. Now. You are trespassing."

Scrimengour led the way out, fuming. Dumbledore looked at Luna. "Miss Lovegood, how are we to rebuild the school if you and your friends stop us at every turn?"

"We did more than our share of helping sir." Luna said quietly. "We organized the concert, we donated money. You just can't build here, that's all."

McGonagall escorted the Headmaster out, Snape following them after giving a lingering glance to the girl.

Harry wiped his mouth politely with the cloth napkin. Adam Smith was sipping some wine, talking to the American ICW ambassador. Neville was at his side, just having finished his soup.

"It's very good." Neville said. Harry gave him a small smile. The two of them were out of their element, at such a formal event. They were dressed in formal robes, and Harry's hair was braided back, his nail polish and makeup gone. He felt like a completely different person now, without it. The ambassador turned to them.

"So, Mr. Potter, what do you think of Washington D.C so far?"

"Uhm...it's okay. I've been here before. I quite liked Salem Magical Institute- that's the second time I've visited there, and I saw Mike and Sam's workshop, isn't it fantastic?" Harry asked the President.

Adam nodded. "Yes, it is. Actually, that is something we wanted to talk to you about. Mr. Potter, how would you like a job here, with our Ministry?"

Harry stared at the man. "What?"

"Well, who better to bring the magical community into the modern era than someone who started it all?"

Harry glanced at Neville. "Well...I...I'm honored, sir, but I have much to do, I don't think I could possibly..."

Adam just gave him a small smile. "Still on about that band business?"

Harry blushed. "Er, yes sir. I mean, there's much I need to do back home too, I couldn't leave the UK permanently-"

"You wouldn't have to. Just use the international floo, I could get you a pass-"

"Thank you, but no." Harry cut the man off. "I'm quite happy in the UK at the moment. I'm only traveling to look at the schools abroad."

"Are you interested in continuing your education here in the U.S, Mr. Potter?" The ambassador asked.

"Uhm...well, I'm not sure." Harry said. "I've still got quite of number of places to look at- and not all of them are here in the U.S. This is...just for research purposes, right now."

Adam furrowed his brow. "Research purposes?"

Neville spoke up. "As you know, Headmaster Dumbledore and the Ministry have decided to rebuild Hogwarts in Bristol. We, myself and Harry, along with Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood, believe that rebuilding Hogwarts as it once was would be impossible. We want to look at the other options."

Harry squeezed Neville's hand. They didn't want to come out and say to everyone that they wanted to build an entirely new school- that would just be a bad idea.

The Ambassador looked thoughtful. "Well, if you are going to be focused on our Educational system here in the U.S, I'm sure I could provide you with a thorough tour of our schools. Will Miss Lovegood and Mr. Malfoy accompany you?"

Harry and Neville shook their heads in unison. "They're back home, attending to their own business. When we come back from our trip here in the U.S, they will go abroad elsewhere to check out more schools." Harry said.

Adam scrutinized Harry, and then changed the subject. "So, what did you think of the lab?"

Karaoke Song! Groove Is In The Heart- Deelite-

youtube/watch?v=C4D1HSL7P98&NR=1

Neville's song: Janet Jackson's Control, on youtube- the link won't upload properly.

Just…um…imagine it that it's sung by a guy, and slow and sultry. Exclude the intro. :3

Harry's song: youtube/watch?v=leohcvmf8kM

Yay, one of my favorites. Harry's dancing his bum off to this high energy song! XD