The Death Debt

Chapter 14

Severus was a little tipsy. Which is why he thought it was a splendid idea when Black suggested they climb the railing into a park.

"Why can't we just go through the gate?" Severus asked as he placed his foot in the cradle of Black's hands.

"Because," Black grunted as he boosted him up. Severus swayed a little as he scrambled over the fence. "You need a key to get in."

Severus landed on the other side and stooped to dust the snow off of his robes. "It's a public park. They can't just lock people out."

Black vaulted himself up and over in one smooth motion; even through his dress robes, Severus could see the movement of muscles honed through years of swinging a Beater's bat. "Show off," Severus muttered, turning his face away to hide the rising blush.

Black smirked at him and stretched his arms above his head, making a big show of his physique while he 'popped his back,' or so he claimed. "It's not a public park though. This part of London is owned by the Duke of Westminster. You have to lease one of his houses to get access to a key."

They trudged through the park; there wasn't much to see, the ground was covered in snow and the trees were brown and leafless. It might have been pretty come springtime when everything was in bloom, but in the dead of winter it was a vast and empty wasteland.

Black perked up when they heard the sound of children laughing echoing through the park. Severus followed his gaze and spotted a group of kids – maybe nine, ten years old – taking turns sledding down a hill. Sirius bounded over to them, forcing Severus to jog after him.

"Mind if we borrow your sled for a moment?" Black asked, slurring his words just a little. The children just sort of stared silently back at him, bug-eyed. Merlin, what must they think being accosted like this by a drunk teenager? "Look, I'm not going to steal it or anything. I just want a ride."

"You're too big," said a little girl with brown pigtails sticking out from underneath her cap, clutching at her sled. She was running her eyes up and down their extravagant robes.

"Oy! I'm not going to break it! Come on, we'll show you how to really sled."

"We will do no such thing," Severus stated firmly. "I've never ridden a sled before."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Severus did not like the look of sheer, utter delight spreading across Black's face. "You're kidding! Well, now you have to go sledding. Come on, kids, are you going to let him go his entire life without ever getting on a sled?"

Which is how Severus found himself squeezed onto a child's sled behind Black, his arms wrapped around his waist, his knees somewhere up near his elbows. Black wiggled in front of him, trying to get the sled to move down the hill, but they were too heavy.

"Okay, we need a push!" Black declared, and Severus let his head drop forward onto Black's back when a half-dozen voices erupted into cheers of, "Push! Push! Push!"

There were little hands everywhere: against his back, his shoulders, gripping the edge of the sled near his thighs, and slowly they started to inch forward to the beat of the chant, "Push! Push! Push!"

The sled reached the tipping point. The hands let go and the sled started to glide downhill, gaining momentum, and–

Almost immediately they tipped over, too heavy and unbalanced to stay upright. Severus grunted as they landed face-first into the snow; he was going too fast to stop and so he rolled, faster and faster until he hit against something soft.

"Ouch! Merlin, is that elbow digging into me? Be careful with those things, will you? They're sharp enough to be classified as a knife."

Despite his grumbling, there was a big grin on Black's face as he crawled to his feet and offered a hand to pull Severus up. Severus couldn't help the slight twitch of his lips trying to pull his mouth into an answering smile.