(no subject)

[clumsy_auror]

"Bernard, it'll be fine. I Apparated Crowley home from Iraq that one time, didn't I?"

Nymphadora raises an eyebrow at her husband, expectant.

Down at the alley's opening, the traffic of Charing Cross Road whizzes merrily by, and the sidewalks are filled with people out soaking up the bright afternoon sunshine.

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[clumsy_auror]

"True," she concedes, taking a noisy slurp of her drink before setting it back down, her bare toes brushing the white sand at their feet. "...Your nose is pink."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He sighs.

"Redhead. Hit me with another spell."

[clumsy_auror]

Nymphadora surreptitiously points her wand in his direction, and mutters a Sunblocking Charm. And one on herself for good measure. "So when were you here? And was that the same trip where you ended up drunkenly tattooed?"

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

Bernard's cheeks turn red, this time manifestly not from the effects of the sun.

"Was... about 20. Whole gang came down here for a while, to hide out. It wasn't a touristy place then." He grins. "We saw Liz Taylor. She liked to come to Puerto Vallarta after filming A Place in the Sun. I was tempted to slip a firecracker into her handbag."

[clumsy_auror]

Choking back a laugh, 'Dora narrows her eyes at her husband. "...Did you try to chat up Elizabeth Taylor, just to see if you could?"

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He laughs. "Are you kidding me? Rachel would've had my ass in a sling." A pause. "I did consider it, though."

[clumsy_auror]

"I have no doubt you did, sweetheart."

For a moment she falls silent, looking out into the surf and imagining a younger Bernard, wilder, running down this beach with the Gang.

With Rachel.

She's still smiling, though.

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He's not, but he's not particularly upset or anything. Memory has an odd effect on him at times, even now.

"Anyway. The tattoo happened on the way back north. Tijuana."

[clumsy_auror]

Nymphadora snickers, and leans over to press a kiss to said tattoo on his shoulder blade. "A very nice choice, if I may say."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

"I don't recall choosing it at all, but I'll go ahead and say thanks."

[clumsy_auror]

Laughing harder, Nymphadora stands and unbuttons her cover-up, shrugging out of it. "I'm going for a swim. Getting a bit warm just sitting here."

She picks her way down to the waterline, stopping now and again to examine curious shells or tide-pools, or squish her toes blissfully in the wet sand.

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

Bernard watches her meander towards the water, a soft half-smile on his lips.

When she wades out into the surf and is immediately knocked over by a wave, he snorts and puts his sunglasses on the sand next to her lemonade. It's funny. The sand is hot, but it's not all that bad. And he has black flip-flops to ward off the worst.

Swimming out to his dripping wife, he catches her around the waist and adopts a terrified mien. "I've come to save you from yourself."

[clumsy_auror]

"Chuh! I'm a brilliant swimmer," Nymphadora assures him, but wraps her arms around his shoulders all the same. "But I don't reckon I've got the proper balance for this whole wave thing."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

"The trick is," he murmurs, pulling her further out to sea, "to get past the waves. The sand bar stretches pretty far out, here."

[clumsy_auror]

Cheerfully, "Right, then. Out past the waves we shall go." Turning away from shore, 'Dora starts swimming out to the calmer waters... and immediately gets another wave in the face.

She laughs when she surfaces, trying to push her sodden hair away from her face.

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

It would be cruel to laugh.

Truly.

Bernard is a bad man.

"...Good try."

[clumsy_auror]

They make it out to the edge of the sand bar eventually, and Nymphadora floats on her back, eyes closed, smiling.

The thought of home, and the war, washes over her for a moment -- I hope nothing's happened -- but I did tell them to owl -- and her smile falters.

But only for a moment.

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

Bernard's hand tangles with hers as he floats beside her.

"This was a very good idea."

[clumsy_auror]

"Yeah. It really was." Her thumb smooths over the back of Bernard's hand. "For as much as I love it at home, I love having you out in the world with me, too."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He smiles wryly up at the ridiculously blue sky. "I miss holding your hand in strange new places."

[clumsy_auror]

"I know. So do I." Nymphadora rolls over onto her side for a moment to press a soft kiss to Bernard's cheek. "But we get times like these, too, to make up for the rest."

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

He squeezes her hand. "We're lucky. Astoundingly so."

[clumsy_auror]

Seriously, "I think so, too. Even with all the shite with the war... I feel good, where we're at."

Nymphadora rights herself and, with her free hand, smooths over the rippling surface of the water.

[the-woodpecker.livejournal.com]

"Me, too. And, hey!" He rights himself with a small splash, dunking under the water for a second. "We haven't exposed our children to gross neglect lately, and even the animals are warring quietly."

[clumsy_auror]

'Dora grins, but at the mention of the kids, her face falls just a little. "Hope they're doing all right," she says, worrying her lip. "Especially Anthony, I don't want him to be scared in the night--"