Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world belong to J. K. Rowling

Note: sex scenes in Part 2 of this story

Part 2/Chapter 15

Bellamy was very sleepy in the morning, when they tried to get him up. If it would not arouse curiosity, he would have been left, but no-one wanted others asking questions. He had to be helped, as he kept staggering, always, for some reason, to the left. But they got him up and into the showers, and Mario held him as Angelo soaped him.

Angelo marvelled at himself. He'd had him twice last night, and wanted him again, and he suggested to Mario, that he was still so dopey, he wouldn't feel it if they had another go now. Bruno in the corner, looked up hopefully, his penis already hardening. But Mario said no, they'd leave him alone this morning.

"All right for you," Angelo said, "You had him again in the night. I heard you!"

But Mario said there was not enough time in any case. Poor Bruno had to look after himself - his acute arousal would have been too obvious otherwise, even dressed.

The twins had dismantled the bed on the floor, and made up the bunks for Mario. There were inspections every now and then, and it was never left. There was no point taking Bellamy to breakfast, so they just lay him down on his bunk for the time being. They'd dress him when they came back. Prudently, they locked him in. He was shielded from scrutiny as much as possible that morning, and they succeeded in keeping his state away from the notice of others.

Uberto asked about him, and suggested that he be made to take one of his tablets that night, which should be enough of a top up for another session. He didn't ask to join in, to their relief. Maybe when they had him thoroughly trained.

Bellamy didn't touch his lunch, although he was beginning to look a lot less sleepy, and no longer staggered. He didn't speak, but he was not trembling or crying either. They thought he might have forgotten that anything had occurred the previous night. He showed no grudge, and accepted their touching and caresses. He was working more easily by the afternoon, too.

At afternoon tea time, they were standing around on the Crew Deck, drinking coffee. Even Bellamy was drinking coffee. Without warning, Bellamy set down his coffee, crossed to the railing, and dived into the water, swimming fast away from the ship, as Mario bellowed after him. They threw a lifebelt, but Bellamy was perfectly deliberately swimming toward the shore, roughly five miles distant. He'd been dressed by the others that morning, and for once, had neither his passport nor his moneybelt on him. But he was going ashore. As soon as he cleared the ship, he paused in the water, and cast aside shoes and clothing, leaving on only underpants, before methodically starting again on his long swim. He was going ashore.

Captain Guido was furious when he had to delay his journey because some fool had jumped overboard, presumably trying to kill himself. And it took a while to slow the big ship, and turn. He wished he could just abandon the man, who was probably drowned by now in any case.

The ship's boat searched for Bellamy. Mario was with them, and Nino, acutely anxious. They searched the pattern as laid down by the officer. Relatively close to where he'd left the ship. There was no sign of Bellamy. After a long time, the officer yielded to Mario's begging, and extended their search. "He swims very well!" Mario kept insisting. "He would have been heading to shore."

The Captain, watching from the ship, wondered what his boat's crew thought they were doing, going so far. The conditions were choppy; it was very unlikely the man would have got that far. He still inclined to the belief that it was a suicide attempt - a very inconvenient one. The ships rails were lined with passengers, and he very much disliked that, too. He gave orders, and two more boats were lowered, searching closer to the ship. The passengers were excited, treating it as a diversion. A crewman had jumped overboard, reasons unknown.

It was only when Nino added his persuasions to Mario's, that the searching boat went far enough that Bellamy was spotted, smoothly stroking through the restless sea, still a couple of miles from shore.

Competently, they went into the drilled procedure, pulling alongside the swimmer, and throwing the lifebelt. Bellamy ignored it, and swam on. Again and again they tried, the one in charge becoming very angry indeed at the uncooperative man who refused to be rescued. A strong seaman leaned over, and tried to grab hold of him.

Bellamy dived, confusing them, and they looked around for five minutes before he was discovered the other side of the boat, still determinedly heading for shore. They didn't quite know what to do next. Mario was calling to him, Nino too. But it was only when Mario begged in a despairing voice, "Henry, Please!" that he turned and looked up. He backed off a little as the boat was steered closer, and looked back in the direction of the ship, and then towards the shore. But another plea from Mario swung the balance, and he allowed them to pull him out of the water.

Mario took him in his arms, holding him close. A blanket was handed over, and the cold, nearly nude body was wrapped in the blanket, and then held again by Mario. Watching the pair, the boat's crew made a very accurate guess as to the reason for the flight. Nino tried to warn Mario, looking hard at him, and flicking his eyes to the crew, but Mario took no notice, just cradling his boy whom he thought he'd lost.

The Captain met the boat's crew as they brought Bellamy back. Mario held him as he started to shiver, and helped support him as he tried to walk. Guido ordered him to take Bellamy to the doctor, and frowned after them. Passengers pointed and stared, but crew had been sent about their business. Guido had a word with the boat's officer, and then turned to go after Bellamy. This had to be investigated. He knew that homosexuality went on among the crew, but as long as it was discreet, it was seldom a problem. But this was the traumatised boy who'd been taken off the Marchesa, and now, he suspected, something similar might have happened again.

By the time Guido entered the small hospital room, Bellamy had collapsed in a faint, and been picked up by Mario. He was still betraying himself, but it was love that Guido saw, rather than lust. Esta also saw his feeling for the boy, but was more suspicious. The boy was discernibly thinner than he'd been last time Mario had brought him for a checkup, and that was months ago. Mario was instructed to put him on a bed, and then told to leave.

Guido said abruptly, "Check for rape!"

Esta raised her voice. "Uberto," and it was Uberto who peeled off the wet underpants, and helped turn Bellamy so that she could look for the abrasions that could indicate rape.

"No signs of trauma," she said to Guido, in a matter-of-fact tone. There were no pathology facilities on board, and she didn't do any other checks.

Bellamy appeared to be in a deep faint, to the acute relief of Uberto, who bore a bruise down his left cheek. "I think he's just exhausted," said Esta, after briefly checking pulse and blood pressure. "He doesn't even seem particularly cold, surprisingly."

Guido said heavily, "He was trying to kill himself, just swimming until he drowned, I presume."

Uberto said, "Into bed?"

Esta nodded, and Uberto, aided after a moment by Guido, put him into bed, still naked. Guido looked at him thoughtfully. He was a beautiful boy, and he reached down and touched a scar on the shoulder. Esta showed him something else, the white bracelet scars around his wrists. Guido shook his head. An innocent, simple-minded boy, and he'd quite obviously been subjected to some considerable cruelty in the past, and probably again just recently, to make him do such a thing.

Six cabin mates were congregated in their TV room. They were very quiet.

Nino asked tentatively, "Do you think he'll tell them?"

Bruno spoke roughly, "What's to tell? Sex isn't a crime."

"Rape's a crime," said Angelo, grimly.

Bruno was inclined to be indignant. "We never raped him. We were always gentle. He hardly even resisted, except for Uberto once, and that was stopped!"

Angelo spoke gravely. "We can't lie to ourselves, even if we lie to others. Henry was raped, if not from the first, then, quite definitely, last night, when we drugged him." And he added again, very definitely, "We raped him."

Mario's head dropped lower. It was his boy whom he loved, and he'd raped him.

They went on to the next point. "Do you think he'll tell them?"

Angelo shrugged. He might not. If he did, they were gone. But they agreed that if anyone asked why he was so upset as to jump into the sea, they'd say it was because they were closely questioning him about his past. He was so young that they thought he might have parents somewhere, acutely worried about him. But they hadn't found out anything, and had only made Bellamy very upset. They were very sorry. And they worked over their story, clarifying details, ensuring that everyone knew who was supposed to have said what. It would be better remembered than most real conversations.

Another long silence developed, broken by Taddeo. "I wonder how he always knew when it was Uberto."

Captain Guido was finished dinner before he had the message he'd been waiting for. Bellamy was awake and ready to be questioned.

"Peter?" he asked the First Officer, who was to join them. Rape was a very serious matter.

Guido, Inglis, and Esta surrounded Bellamy, now dressed, and standing with his back to the wall, staring away from them and looking vague. Uberto lurked close by, in a store room, listening hard. Uberto had not only raped, he'd stolen dangerous drugs. And there were no ties of friendship between himself and Bellamy, in spite of the unfamiliar tenderness he'd felt the previous evening, as he'd held him afterward. Uberto was very worried.

Bellamy was subjected to a persistent and close questioning, first by Guido, and then Inglis had a go. But he turned an unfocused gaze onto them, and either said nothing, or that he didn't know.

Esta tried then. "Has someone done something to you that you didn't like?"

At last, there was a sort of a definite answer. He said he didn't think so.

Guido frowned at him. He saw Uberto close, and ordered, "Get Mario - and say nothing of what you've heard."

Guido was beginning to lose his patience, forgetting his pity for the boy. He'd caused four hours delay, and that was not a small matter. And it was beginning to look as if he'd had no reason for his action - just a random impulse from a feeble-minded boy.

Mario came in, and they watched for Bellamy's reaction. Uberto cautiously stayed away in case Bellamy thought of attacking him again. But Bellamy looked up with an obvious relief when he saw Mario, and started moving toward him. Guido ordered him quite harshly to stay where he was. Bellamy stayed where he was. Mario was questioned then, about what might have upset Bellamy, and Mario gave the prepared story. Bellamy's unfocused gaze wandered.

Guido frowned, and he started himself questioning Bellamy about his past. At first, Bellamy only looked sad and confused, but then he started trembling, and became more and more upset as he persisted, confirming Mario's story in the eyes of Guido. At last he finished, but leaving Bellamy violently trembling, and with tears on his face.

Esta still had her doubts, and she didn't think that Bellamy was feeble-minded, either. When Guido finished, she went to him, looked at him straight, and said, "Henry, were you raped?"

Bellamy vague gaze wandered for a moment, until he seemed to find her, and then, to her surprise, he said, quite definitely and sensibly, "I was not raped."

Guido, Inglis and Esta all spoke German, and now Guido used German, in an aside to Esta, "We'll have to hand him over to the authorities at the next port. He'll have to be committed."

Bellamy looked up in alarm, and took a couple of steps toward Mario, his friend.

"What is it, Henry?" Mario asked.

Bellamy's fear was betrayed as he spoke; "He says he'll have me committed!"

Mario went to him, wrapping an arm around him protectively, and looking at his Captain accusingly, "We take care of him. He's a good worker, and he won't do anything like that again."

Bellamy still stared at the Captain, fearfully.

Guido felt guilty. He was surprised, too. Not many retarded people could speak a second language, and he remembered that Bellamy was English, so that even Italian must have been a second language. And he hadn't missed that moment of normality when Bellamy had stated that he'd not been raped. It was as if, for a moment, a different person had made an appearance. Guido spoke again in German, just to confirm, giving a simple order, telling him to stand beside the bed. Bellamy left Mario, though with discernible reluctance, and stood beside the bed. So all right, Bellamy could speak German. It didn't really mean anything, and Guido was tired of the trouble-maker anyway. So Guido used the Italian they were all familiar with, told Bellamy he wouldn't be committed if he made no more trouble, and said that he could go. Bellamy very quickly went, Mario with him.

Mario's only words as they left was a question whether he'd had any dinner yet. But Bellamy was still trembling, and didn't answer. Mario took a glance at him, thought he probably wouldn't eat anyway, but took him past the kitchen, and begged some sandwiches, before taking him back to their own little TV room.

The others had heard from Uberto that Bellamy didn't seem to be saying anything, but were still relieved when he appeared with Mario. They wouldn't have sent him back to them if he'd been talking.

Taddeo and Silvio were sitting together, as they mostly did. They had a taped film on, and appeared to be watching it, trying not to stare at Bellamy. Angelo had his shrewd eyes on him, but he said nothing either. Bellamy was silent, staying close to Mario. He couldn't be coaxed to eat, but seemed happy enough to sit next to Mario, Mario's arms around his shoulders.

At ten o'clock, Angelo went off to clean the spas, as was his job. Bellamy looked after him, and Mario noticed his tension, and gave him a squeeze. "We won't be going to the spa-room tonight, Henry," he said, and added, "Not tonight, not ever again."

Bellamy's eyes anxiously queried, "Not ever again?"

"Not ever again." His voice was gently reassuring. Bellamy's trembling died down, and when Mario squeezed him, he dropped his head on his shoulder and slept. He was so tired.

Bruno watched him with more of a regret than the others. They had all wanted him, but for Bruno, the big man, it had somehow seemed even more of a privilege. Now they'd never have him again. "Would you like me to make up the bed on the floor, Mario?" he asked.

"I don't know," Mario said doubtfully, looking at Angelo. "He might prefer his own bed now."

Angelo gave his verdict. "If you're strong enough not to have sex with him, he'll probably prefer to sleep with you. It did him good from the start."

Mario gently stroked the head of the sleeping boy. They knew he was not good at making decisions, and would probably only start trembling again if they tried to get him to decide. As it had before, Mario's own wishes influenced the decision, and he said to Bruno, "Yes, please, I'd be grateful if you make up the bed - I'll bring Henry in a little while."

Nino helped Bruno, and suggested, "We could always go to the spa-room ourselves,"

Bruno grinned. "Now?"

When they put their heads back into the TV room though, Mario asked them to wait a few minutes, and woke Bellamy to put him to bed.

As soon as Mario rejoined the group, he told them what they most needed to know. "He told them he was not raped. I believe it was accepted."

There were sighs of relief, though they'd been fairly certain they were in the clear ever since Bellamy rejoined them.

"We have to make sure he doesn't do it again, though. The Captain was talking about having him committed."

Bruno had his arm around Nino. "We're going to find Angelo, we'll tell him."

It was a half hour before they returned with Angelo, and then they talked a long time. Bellamy would not be left alone, they'd try to keep him away from the railings, or at least hold his arm if he went close, and he'd always be locked in the bedroom at night, and whenever he was alone, even if it was an inconvenience for the rest of them.

They were more convinced of the necessity for that when they found Bellamy fully dressed, and pacing the floor. They suspected he was only still there because Mario had locked the door. Mario asked him then whether he preferred his own bed. Bellamy looked at him, frightened but wordless. He wanted Mario. He wanted the warmth and comfort of his body that pushed away the pain within him.

Angelo was watching him closely. "You want to sleep with Mario, don't you?"

Bellamy nodded with relief. He wanted to sleep with Mario. And when Mario joined him in bed, and wrapped his arm around him, he snuggled into the warm, furry body, sighed deeply, and slept. Mario's arm tightened around him, and it was Mario's face that ran with tears. He had his boy back, though he didn't deserve it. He didn't even have to wake Nino or Bruno that night, his tenderness greater than his wanting.

***chapter end***