B"SD

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

Chapter Thirteen

The next three days of travelling were quite un-eventful. The same schedule repeated itself- wake up to the bouncing of the wagon, spend the morning entertaining yourself in some way, break for lunch, resume bouncing, break for supper, bounce through the night. Nothing of note happened except for the time Ezio fell asleep while driving (no one noticed until they nearly fell down a ravine). From then on it was insisted that the Assassin sleep the rest of the journey, which he agreed to rather blearily. Harry took over driving after it was made clear no one trusted Leonardo. In this way the group made it to the wetlands area surrounding Forli.

"Ah, there it is," Ezio inhaled, poking his head out the wagon's window. "Beautiful Forli."

"That's it?" Desmond asked, eyebrows raised. The stone walls of the city were barely visible through the mist of the marsh.

"It looks like a pile of rocks," Rebecca stated, squinting through the fog.

"Looks can be deceiving," Ezio shrugged, "Though I don't remember Forli being that impressive, in truth."

"Remember?" Ron repeated, "When was the last time you visited Forli?"

"A long time ago," The assassin shrugged again, "My father took my brothers and me to Venice for a visit- the port is near Forli, so we stayed the night."

"I'm afraid we may need to do the same thing," Leonardo announced, "According to my records, a boat only leaves Forli for Venice once a week."

"Which day of the week is that?" Hermione asked warily. She hated the idea of spending more time in this foggy wetland than she needed to.

"Tomorrow, actually," Leonardo responded.

"I'd better go back up and give Harry directions to the inn," Ezio said, heading for the wagon's exit.

"Do we have to go straight to the inn?" Rebecca asked hopefully, "can't we spend some time in the city?"

"It's best we go to the port first and see what time the boat leaves," Ezio nodded, "but I don't see why not."

"Wow!" Rebecca squealed as Ezio climbed back up to the driver's seat, "We're actually going to Renaissance Forli!"

"Beccar," Shaun sighed, "don't make me remind you again. This is not-"

"A vacation, I know," Rebecca snapped, hurt, "I just wanted to enjoy it a bit. Unless YOU want to sit in the wagon all afternoon. I for one, would like to stretch my legs."

After a few more minutes of rattling and bouncing, the wagon pulled to a stop before the entrance to the docks. The docks, if you could call them that, were really just a large wooden deck with some berths for ships attached. There was a small group of buildings, cottages and shacks, next to the water. The group piled out of the wagon and stretched, filling the air with the popping of joints and snapping of bones.

"If it pleases you, ragazzi," Ezio groaned, "I would like to WALK from here to the city."

No one disagreed.

They waited outside a few moments while Ezio and Leonardo made arrangements at the inn. The weather was quite humid, but without the humidity Romagna was quite cold. They had picked a fine time to visit- the rainy season, where the farmland was completely flooded. Their wagon had splashed through dozens of puddles on the way to the inn alone and, waiting outside patiently, the mosquitoes were becoming unbearable. Finally, the Assassin and the genius re-appeared and the group set off on the beaten road for Forli, which was just a short walk away.

When the group reached the gates the whole visit had begun to feel like a family trip. Ezio divided them into three groups: Harry, Ron, Shaun, and Desmond. Rebecca, Hermione, Lucy, and Leonardo- and Ezio decided to go by himself.

"Why don't you come with us?" Leonardo had pleaded excitedly.

"I'd love to, amico mio," Ezio had replied with an expression that was quite un-like him, "but I would like to be by myself for a while."

Leonardo nodded silently and let Rebecca drag him away, chattering excitedly.

Harry didn't find anything special about the small stone city. Strolling around was fun with Ron, especially deciding what to use the three-hundred florins Ezio had allotted them on, but in the end it was just another homely Italian town. Desmond had of course taken interest in the assortment of rare Italian wines they were selling and had dragged Shaun along to inspect them on the grounds that he "had nothing better to do." Harry and Ron had a lot of fun checking out the art stores too- and had, in the end, purchased a piece depicting a solemn family praying in church.

"Wait till Hermione sees this!" Ron giggled, "I hope we can take it back with us- I'd love to have a renaissance painting to brag about in my room!"

"I don't think so, Ron," Harry shook his head, "Everyone'd be able to tell it's a muggle painting anyway."

"Yeah, but still," Ron persisted, "do you know any other Gryffindors who've been to Renaissance Italy?"

For Lucy, Rebecca, and Hermione the day had been a blast. While at first Lucy had been stern, reminding everyone to remember what they were here for- even she fell to the shopping spree after a while. They had divided Ezio's seven-hundred florins into one-fifty each and had given Leonardo the excess. Rebecca and Lucy had preferred to shop together, and Hermione was alright picking out styles on her own. Leonardo found he wasn't quite in the mood for shopping anymore- instead he found himself sketching on a bench in the main plaza, trying to place the look Ezio had given him. He found he couldn't be excited while he knew something was wrong. Rebecca had come back to him with an arm full of exotic dresses from maid's clothing to ball gowns. Lucy had returned with a stack of canvases and painting materials and had asked Leonard to give her a brief tutorial (he had smiled and replied 'perhaps later'). Finally, Hermione came back carrying nothing but her purse.

"Well? How'd you make out?" Rebecca asked eagerly, lifting an eyebrow at the lack of baggage.

"Rebecca," Hermione's grin was so wide it appeared she'd burst into laughter any moment, "you have no idea."

Ezio had spent the day where he knew no one would find him. The most obvious place- yet impossible to reach. Lounging casually against the cross's base he felt completely at peace on the tip of the church's one hundred fifty foot spire. But something felt wrong- the Assassin felt rather melancholy.

No matter how much they had hid it, smothering it in terms he didn't understand, the message got through. It was pretty clear to the young killer that when he and Leonardo boarded the boat for Venice, their friends would disappear. He realized he didn't know how he felt about that. For the past week on the road he'd felt like a father taking care of his children- he chuckled at how troublesome they had all been- but for the first time in six years, he had been a brother again. Moments like that game of I Spy in the wagon could never be replaced. He frowned- all his memories of those moments had been torn from him by the Templars the moment he saw his brothers hang.

In the end it boiled down to one thing.

How could he saw goodbye?

Ezio had never been one for goodbyes. Even for all his night-time conquests, he had never said goodbye. He often left a note, a flower, even a blade- he never left with words. He found he'd grown quite fond of the bushy haired girl, and the fiery redhead- even the quiet arrogant nature of the boy with the scar. He'd loved his descendant like a brother as well, as they were the same age. When the time came…what would he do? Questions like these plagued the Italian's mind until he felt he would burst. He didn't want to say goodbye. He'd missed having a family too much to let go of it so soon. He wasn't ready- he laughed bitterly at this thought. He himself had answered the question years ago. "We rarely are."