d r a c o
They bundled up in thick layers of clothing. Belly asked him twice where they were headed, but he wouldn't tell her.
She locked the front door, and they stepped out into the cold. As he took her hand in his, he saw a flash of worry cross her expression. A split-second of concern as she glanced back at the house; and then her attention was his.
As they Apparated, he held her tight against his chest. He was afraid of letting her go, afraid of her being splinched; afraid of letting her slip from his arms into the whirling spaces of Apparition.
His fearful thoughts verged on irrational, he knew that. But he was barely accustomed to her company. With his every breath, he was afraid of losing her again.
His feet found solid ground, and he brought one hand up from her shoulder to shield her eyes. He spoke into her ear. "You can't look yet."
They were standing on top of a sand dune, overlooking a small solitary cove. He steered her to the edge of the dune, from where they could see the beach in its entirety.
Wind whipped at his hair and salt air filled his nostrils. He looked down at Belly; saw a smile pulling at her lips, no doubt feeling the bitter wind beat at her skin, too. He dropped his hand. "You expected this?"
Belly heaved out a happy sigh as she gazed around at the white beach, the dark ocean; the grey clouds overhead. She looked back at him. "I might know you better than you think."
"Bit of a shit surprise, then," he replied.
But her smile only grew. "I love the beach. We've never been here together?"
He shook his head. "We've never been anywhere together except school, my house or yours."
She nodded, clearly satisfied by this information. Happy to be on something of a level playing field. "But you've been here before?"
He raised a shoulder. "Once or twice."
Belly studied him for a moment longer, then pulled her coat closer around herself and turned her face against the wind. "It's pretty."
The cove stretched for no more than half a mile. It was hidden away from the main land; enclosed by tall sand dunes on one side and towering cliffs on the other. When he'd stumbled upon it in the summer after the war, the sun had blazed hard on his cheeks and the sand had been hot to touch. Now, the air was icy and the sky a dark grey, but it was idyllic, still.
What he liked most about this beach was that every time he had been here, there hadn't been a single other person in sight.
He looked at Belly as she looked at the horizon, hair rippling back; her chin tilted up against the salty breeze. Thought, he had once looked at her the exact same way, on top of the fountain in the Manor. Had thought that he would one day be able to tell her of all the horrible experiences that had accumulated inside of him, sharp as knives; the way Dumbledore and Voldemort and the Death Eaters had prowled through his nightmares like monsters. But before he had been able to tell that to her, she had taken their place. Had, on the day of the battle, become the person whose face haunted his days and nights.
She had vanished from his life before he'd gotten the chance to bring her someplace like this. It wasn't how he had imagined it might be; her company precarious, the threat of losing her at any second imminent. But still, he thought. It was good.
"How cold do you think the water is?"
Draco's gaze stuttered. "We're not here to swim."
"I don't want to swim, I only want to dip my feet in."
