Rome
“I told you it was inevitable.”
Rose choked on her breakfast eggs and whirled around to see the smiling face of Kieran Campbell. He looked the same as the last time she’d seen him – leather jacket, jeans and dragonhide boots. He was even taller standing up, and she had to crane her neck a little to look him in the eye.
“Are you stalking me?” she asked once she’d swallowed her bite of food.
“It’s coincidence, I swear,” he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. Rose’s eyes caught on the bulge of his bicep. “The whole ‘I think it's inevitable’ thing was just a line to make me memorable.”
“I certainly remembered you,” laughed Rose, flushing. “What are you doing in Rome, if not stalking me?” She gestured at the chair across from her, and he sat down happily.
“My sister lives here,” he said. “She moved out here to teach and I'm visiting.”
“So you’re on vacation at the moment?”
He nodded. “We’re paid on a case-by-case basis by the bank, so I’ll find out when there’s another assignment waiting for me. Until then, I’m a free agent. Where have you been since Berlin?”
Rose sat up straighter in her seat, leaning forward a little. It had been over a month since they’d first met in Berlin. Rose had been travelling around Europe – healing, learning, and growing comfortable in her own skin. She’d met all sorts of people and rediscovered the reason she’d been so excited about magic before Voldemort’s war overshadowed it all. She’d picked up books on a variety of magical disciplines in an attempt to find a stream of magic that called to her and had devoured them as she travelled on the train to different countries. She’d visited Bulgaria, Romania – avoided Yugoslavia due to the conflict – and circled back to Western Europe, where she’d spent some time in Austria, Switzerland and Spain before making her way down to Italy. She’d found out who she was when she was alone without the pressure of being the Girl-Who-Lived weighing down on her.
She liked who Rose Potter was, when she wasn’t being a martyr.
At some point, Kieran ordered some food for himself and was listening intently as she rambled about everything she’d seen on her trip. He chimed in with anecdotes of his own, sharing things he’d seen while travelling for work.
Slowly, Rose was able to piece together his picture as well. Kieran had a pet dog named Sir Woofalot that lived with his parents when he was away. He wanted to travel more for fun instead of for work. He was single. He had a sister and two brothers, and had grown up in the middle of nowhere in Scotland. He’d gone to Hogwarts, was a proud Hufflepuff and had graduated two years before she’d started.
The conversation was easy. She’d only ever been so relaxed with Ron and Hermione. Here was this random stranger, and he’d gotten her to be open with him on only the second meeting. She didn’t want to overthink it.
“Hey, Kieran?”
“Mm?” He was doctoring his coffee, adding sugar and taking little sips until he was satisfied. It was adorable. Rose was impulsive and reckless on her best days, but never with her heart. When it came to romantic relationships, she was woefully inexperienced. Barring a short-lived relationship with Ginny in sixth year and a few dates with Blaise Zabini after the war – he was great, but they were better off as friends – she hadn’t ever allowed herself to feel for a person. Until recently, anyone attached to her had had a target on their backs. It was different now. She was a Gryffindor, she could take a risk. Fuck it, she thought, steeled herself.
“Would you want to spend the rest of the day with me? As a date, I mean.”
His eyes widened and he smiled broadly, a faint blush on his cheeks. “Yes,” he said. They settled the bill and set off down the cobblestone street. “Where to first, madam?” he asked, offering his elbow for her to hold on to. Giggling, she accepted his arm, feeling solid muscle in his forearm.
“There’s a temple to Mother Magic not too far from here,” she explained, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “They built it centuries ago, and that’s where the Roman pagans used to hold all their celebrations – Samhain, Litha, Ostara and so on – before the Christians drove them into hiding, even before the Statute was created. It’s meant to be really beautiful.” Hermione, with whom she’d been corresponding regularly even while traveling, had suggested it after she saw it mentioned in one of her stuffier History texts.
“I’ve never heard of that, but I’m down,” said Kieran warmly. “Are we Apparating?”
“I was going to walk, if that’s alright with you?”
“Perfectly fine with me. We have these walking trails near my family home in Scotland…”
The walk was nice. They exchanged stories from school, and Kieran was justifiably aghast upon hearing some of her more life-threatening adventures.
“You’re telling me there was a fifty foot basilisk living under the castle the entire time?” he asked, pale-faced.
“Bigger than fifty feet,” said Rose, grinning. “Try sixty. I was told it was Salazar Slytherin’s familiar.”
“Who told you that?”
“Um, Voldemort, I guess. Or the sixteen year old memory of him.” To his credit, Kieran didn’t flinch at the name. Instead, he stared at her for a moment and burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” she asked when he stopped in the street to laugh.
“I just – every story you tell me is insane,” he gasped, clutching his side. “Dragons and basilisks and dementors…what are they doing at Hogwarts these days? My school years were positively boring in comparison.”
“That was down to me, Dumbledore and Voldemort, I’m afraid,” said Rose, relieved that she wasn’t panicking at the thought of all her past experiences. “You know, now that I’m telling a neutral third party that wasn’t involved in any of it, it sounds wild. Guess you had to be there.”
“That sort of thing always sounds wild in hindsight,” he said fondly. “I remember this time I got stuck in an Egyptian tomb with a friend for three days. We accidentally triggered one of the traps and had the entrance we came through collapse on us. We had to solve all these crazy puzzles to get out and almost died of dehydration in the process. It was absolutely terrifying at the time.”
“Merlin, that sounds like a nightmare,” said Rose, wincing. “I’m glad you kept your head. I know how easy it is to panic in that kind of situation – I’ve done more than my fair share of panicking.”
“Bill and I had each other to lean on, so it wasn’t that bad,” he shrugged. “I think I would’ve actually died if I was down there on my own.”
“Wait, Bill? Bill Weasley?” asked Rose, tilting her head.
“Yeah, we’re friendly,” he said. “Haven’t seen him since he went back to England permanently, though. Then the whole war broke out, and he got married, so it’s been a while.”
“Were you at the wedding? I think I would’ve remembered you,” she said coyly.
Kieran flushed a little, but shook his head. “I got the invite, but I couldn’t make it.” His gaze darkened a little. “I was busy with something else at the time.” War stuff, then. Rose dared to grab his hand and squeeze it. She didn’t say anything, only offered unspoken understanding. They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Rose spotted their destination.
There was a tall elder tree that stood alone and apart from the rest of the foliage. There was a large, swirling whorl on it that looked almost like a door, and it reeked of old magic. There were several Muggles around, but Rose doubted they could even see the tree. The letter Hermione had sent her had said that she had to walk through the wooden archway, similar to how they entered Platform 9¾.
“Look, we’re almost there!” said Rose, pointing at the tree.
“Merlin, that’s bright,” said Kieran, squinting at it.
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, I have Mage Sight,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I can see magic. It’s a handy skill when it comes to Curse Breaking, but it makes it difficult for me to be in magically charged spaces sometimes.”
“That’s so cool!” exclaimed Rose, then frowned. “Can you turn it off? The temple is probably saturated in a lot more magic than just the entrance.”
“Yes, when I use Occlumency,” he assured her. “It’s alright, really, but it tires me out if I use it for too long. That’s why I prefer to live in Muggle spaces. I get overwhelmed otherwise.”
“Hogwarts must have been awful for you,” said Rose sympathetically. “All that concentrated magic.”
“It was in my first year,” he said. “I had horrible migraines and had special dispensation to leave the castle whenever I needed to. I never set foot in the Hogwarts library in my first year, actually – too much magic. It made keeping up with classes incredibly difficult.”
“How did you survive it?”
“Professor Snape, actually,” he said with a snort. “He’s the one that taught me Occlumency. He was a bit of a…forceful teacher, let’s say, but it got the job done.”
“Oh,” managed Rose after a long pause. Her feelings on Snape were complicated to say the least. He had been an unholy terror for the entire time she’d known him, and she had hated him ardently. Those memories he’d given her right before he’d died had muddied those feelings. Snape’s last moments flashed before her eyes; the mangled throat, his weakening grip on her wrist, the hoarse rasp of his last words – look at me.
“What is it?” he asked, cocking his head at her in concern. “You’ve gone all quiet.”
“It’s just – Snape tried to teach me Occlumency as well. It ended badly,” she sighed, rubbing her scar with a shaking hand. “Sorry, Snape’s a complicated topic for me. There’s just a lot there I haven’t properly worked through yet,” she whispered, swallowing back the lump in her throat. Kieran’s kind eyes softened.
“Some other time, then,” he said quietly, just as they arrived at the elder tree passage. “Shall we, my lady?” he asked brightly, gesturing towards the tree.
Relieved at the change in subject, Rose smiled and said, “We shall.” Together, they stepped through the trunk of the tree and into the darkness. There was the strange sensation of foreign magic enveloping her core. It wasn’t invasive, exactly. It was as though the magic was deciding if she was worthy enough to be let through. Rose must have passed the test, as she was gently pushed forward and emerged on the other side of the elder tree. She blinked for a moment against the blinding light, and the gasped.
It was beautiful.
The temple was on a small hilltop in the center of the clearing they had just enter. It was made with white stone that had silvery runes etched into it. A small stone altar was fixed in the center. Aside from the temple itself, there were all sorts of magical fauna and flora thriving in the clearing. There were bowtruckles in the trees, sunning themselves on protruding branches. A large glumbumble hive dripped melancholy honey down the trunk of another tree, drawing pixies like buzzards to a feast. Flutterby bushes hovered barely off the ground, filling the air with their sweet scent. There were copious amounts of magical healing plants as well, wild and overgrown – dittany, knotgrass, asphodel, and more. In the copse of trees to the side, a golden unicorn foal peeked out from behind a large oak curiously.
“This is incredible,” whispered Kieran, stepping forward towards to the temple. He hung back to examine the runes etched on the outside of the temple, while Rose stepped in to look at the inside of the building. The altar itself was simple, but the inner walls of the temple were decorated with glimmering, gilded art. House elves dressed in pristine clothing, gathering around a bonfire to celebrate. Centaurs and giants, coming together over a feast to agree to a treaty. Merfolk and veela and all manners of sentient beings, living together in harmony. Wizards using staffs as a focus casting magic that had been outlawed centuries past. A lasting tribute to the era of magic long gone, where magic wasn’t regulated or controlled – it just was.
“I can’t believe all this is just in the middle of Rome,” she said, turning in a slow circle to take in the majesty of the temple. “Why haven’t more people heard of this?”
“It’s been forgotten. This is old magic. The kind that the ICW looks down upon but is still practiced in more isolated magical communities. The runes on the outside are channeling runes,” he said, awed.
“What does that mean?” Rose asked, curious. She’d been learned about runes since she started on her trip, but was by no means proficient.
“It means that that altar is built atop the natural conjunction of multiple ley lines. The runes help stabilize the magic,” he explained, gesturing towards the altar. At her confused look, he said, “It’s like this – all wand magic that you do relies on your personal magical stores. The magic in your magical core or in your blood. Magic with runes or anchored wards draws from ambient magic. That’s magic that’s in the earth and in the air. Here, there’s an extraordinary amount of magic in the earth – enough for immensely powerful magical acts, including ritual magic.”
“Ritual magic,” parroted Rose, a vague understanding forming in her mind. “What does that include?” Her attention was drawn by the pulsing magic emanating from the altar. She moved to take a closer look.
“Oh, all sorts of things,” said Kieran distractedly as he examined a mural on the far corner of the temple. “Purification rituals, fertility rituals, bonding rites. There’s some seriously Dark rituals people have conceived of that can split your soul to pieces, but that involves things like human sacrifice.”
Horcruxes. A small chill went up her spine at the thought that the temple they were in might have been used for such a purpose at a time. Then, she remembered the unicorn in the copse of trees. No – a unicorn wouldn’t stick around where the magic had been tainted like that. It was safe here.
They explored the glade they had found themselves in. There were no other people around – only creatures. It was a paradise for them, and it felt wrong to intrude for too long. This was a safe space for them. While they had been welcomed temporarily, it was time to go.
“That was incredible,” said Kieran, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You should be thanking my friend Hermione, really,” shrugged Rose. “She’s the one that told me about it. She reads all these history books and this was mentioned in one of them, apparently.”
“Thank you for taking me with you,” said Kieran, smiling contentedly.
“Of course. You’re unexpectedly good company,” she teased. “Well, where to next?”
Kieran’s eyes lit up, and then they were off. They spent the day together getting lost in the streets of Rome, doing as they pleased. They’d ended up at a Muggle rooftop bar, surrounded by strangers as they watched the sunset. The view was beautiful – shades of burnt orange and deep pink spanning across the sky. There was a slight chill in the air, but the warmth of the man sitting next to her more than made up for it.
“What did you do in the war, Kieran?” she asked, finally. They’d been dancing around the topic of the war all day, unwilling to spoil the mood. Now that the brightness of the day had waned, it felt safe to ask. He sighed solemnly.
“I smuggled Muggleborns and their families out of the country,” he said, taking a bracing sip of whiskey. “I’m a half blood, but my mother is from one of the most prominent Scottish clans, so I was fairly safe from the Dark Lord’s regime. Myself and some associates had advance warning that the Ministry was about to fall, so we set up a safe house in Calais and got as many vulnerable people out as we could before everything went to shit. Even after the Ministry fell, we were getting people out before the Snatchers could come for them, mainly through Muggle methods. Warded a lot of homes against Death Eaters. It wasn’t much, compared to what you did, but we did our best.”
“It was everything, Kieran,” said Rose hoarsely, feeling oddly emotional. “We were – myself, Ron and Hermione, that is – we were on a different mission. It was necessary to end Voldemort for good, but it was separate to the rest of the war. We were so disconnected from the rest of it. Someone needed to do the work that you did. Thank you, for what you did. If nobody else says it, thank you.” His warm brown eyes were wet when he looked at her.
When he walked her back to her hotel at the end of the night, he rocked back on his heels and asked, “So, where are you off to next?”
“North America,” she replied, nervously playing with an errant strand of hair. “I’ll be there for at least the next month.”
“I guess this is goodbye for now, then,” he said, something sad in his eyes.
“For now,” she said, taking a tentative step closer to him. Her heart beat faster in her chest. “I really enjoyed our date today, and I’d love to keep seeing you, if you’re up for it.”
“You won’t forget me, all the way over the pond?” he joked, although there was a thin undertone of sincerity to his question.
“No,” she said, smiling and rising up to her tip toes, both hands on his shoulders. She leaned in, giving him enough time to push her away if he wanted to. He stayed planted where he was, steady and warm with something like wonder in his eyes. “I couldn’t if I tried,” she whispered, and kissed him.