B"SD

Neither Assassin's Creed, nor Harry Potter belong to me.

Chapter Twelve

Meanwhile, the other seven who had stayed behind with the wagon and horses had been enjoying a nice lunch of dried meat and slightly stale bread, washing the entire meal down with one of the many bottles of wine in the crates.

"This is good stuff," Desmond was saying, pulling the bottle back and inspecting it. "I'm impressed." Lucy laughed.

"What?" Desmond asked, turning to her.

"Desmond," She said, "You're traveling with the Leonardo da Vinci, surrounded by his drawings, and that machine of his," She said, gesturing to the paper bat which was still sitting lopsided in the damaged wagon. "And, of all things, you're impressed with his wine collection."

"I was a bartender once," Desmond pointed out. "Anyways-" his next sentence was cut off by Hermione's call. "Here they come!" The bushy-haired girl had been facing the city gates, keeping watch. Now she was pointing to three figures who had emerged from the crowd, hooded, robed and caped, respectively.

Ezio was the only one smiling, marching in front with a surly looking Leonardo and a furious Ron in tow. "Oh no," she whispered, her voice both annoyed and worried. "What now?"

Harry stood up from where he had been leaning on the wagon, finishing off his sandwich, and came to stand next to her. "Well, Ezio looks happy at least." Nothing drastic could have occurred, right? Ron had spotted them as well, breaking ranks to jog up to meet his friends.

"Never again," Ron snarled as soon as the three were in earshot. "Next time I'm stupid enough to agree to go off with those nutters, please shoot me." Harry laughed. "I'm serious," Ron grumbled. "They are the most impossible pair of people to deal with and I grew up with the twins! And Percy!"

"Why is Leonardo upset?" Rebecca asked the red-head, who threw up his arms.

"How should I know? I wouldn't let him get into a fight with the store owner over some piece of sh-".

"Well that was fun," Ezio said, his voice cheery. Ezio and Leonardo had reached them. Ron threw him a dirty look, but attention had now shifted to the Italian.

"Well? Did you find the carpenter? " Rebecca asked, rounding on him.

"Did you ever doubt me, My Lady?" he stepped aside with a flourish. Standing in the Assassin's shadow was an old man, who was carrying a leather satchel, and looking faintly intimidated by the group at large. He looked more like the type who would be a scholar than a carpenter, with his hunched figure and permanent worry lines. "I present to you Signore Luigi Vampa. He assures me that he can have the wagon repaired within an hour, and for the lowest price to be found in the city," The Assassin said proudly, "And of course I have paid him handsomely for his silence." He turned to the little man, and made a sweeping gesture towards the decrepit wagon. "Well, signore?"

The carpenter needed no further invitation. With unexpected speed, given his weathered frame, the old man scuttled over to the side of the wagon with a missing wheel, muttering to himself in Italian. He inspected the broken hub closely, nodded to himself, and began digging in the pack that was slung over his shoulder. The nine travelers all watched him work, impressed at his expert handling of the problem. After roughly five minutes however, Hermione turned to Ron.

"I really don't think that you should have been fighting with Leonardo," she said, quietly ignoring his indignant expression. "I know he's…enthusiastic but…"

"Hermione," Ron hissed, "He's insufferable! He's like Dobby and Colin Creevey put together, except he's not obsessed with Harry! He was just wandering around the streets, not caring that we may have been attacked at any moment because he was too busy looking at everything. He's too distracted by all the stupid muggle technology and dumb statues to notice that maybe it wasn't a good idea to-"

"That's really harsh, Ron." Hermione cut across him flatly. "He's probably not used to being careful of crowds. Have you ever considered that there might be people who haven't spent their whole lives in danger of attack or death? You have to be understanding."

"It's not like they make it easy," Ron retorted, keeping his voice low. "Even Ezio- he just ran off on his own. No thought to whether there was any danger in leaving us alone, no telling us where he was going- and he acts like it was all perfectly fine." He glowered at the Assassin in question, who was eating a sandwich of dried meat, and laughing at something Shaun had said to Desmond. "Arrogant bastard."

Hermione sighed tiredly. "Ron," she said, "We can't afford to get into fights right now. It's just a situation we're going to have to deal with. With any luck, we'll get to Venice quickly and be sent back to the twenty-first century. Until then," she added, taking his hand, "Please try to get along with the others. We're all anxious and worried- yes, even Ezio- but we shouldn't be taking it out on each other." Ron scowled, but after a few seconds, sighed.

"Fine," He said. "I'll try."

"Thank you," Hermione said, stepping up on to her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

As promised, the wheel took less than an hour to repair. It was just after midday when the carpenter patted the newly repaired wheel, and warned them to be careful over the bumpier roads. "It should hold well, though," He said in a slight voice.

"Grazi, Mi Amico," Ezio said. He pulled a handful of silver from the purse that hung on his belt. The carpenter accepted the payment with a bow.

"It was an honor," He murmured. "Now, if you will excuse me, I must return to my shop. The best of fortune on your journey."

"And the same to you." Ezio watched the old man shuffle back to the city gates, then turned back to the group. "Well," he said, with a sweeping gesture to the newly repaired vehicle, "Do we want to reach Forli before the end of the week or not?" The three women and four men clambered back into the wagon bed, Leonardo and Ezio scrambled into the driver's plinth and they trundled off. Well fed and bored, it didn't take too long for most of the passengers to fall asleep.

A/N: And they're drinking again.

Italian Translation (such as it is):

Amici/Amico:Friends/ Friend

Grazi: Thank you