The Marauders: Year Six #Wattys2017

Italian Leather Loafers

Italian Leather Loafers

Petunia Evans and Vernon Dursley were on a blanket beneath the boardwalk. The sunlight came in thin shafts through the boards of the pier, and the sand was soft and piled into small dunes, affording quite a lot of privacy to anyone who took the time to get there - which was a long walk along the beach from far off down the shore. They'd spent the morning walking together along the edge of the water, talking, and holding hands, and Vernon had talked of businessy things that Petunia didn't truly understand, but thought sounded quite impressive. Vernon had carried a picnic basket and a blanket over one arm as they walked and they found a dune facing the water and set their blanket down in the hollow it created. Vernon, being older than Petunia, had purchased a bottle of wine and they shared it with tiny squares of cheese and crackers and tiny cucumber sandwiches that Petunia had packed in the basket and when they'd finished, they sat in the shade of the pier together.

"It's hotter than Hell itself," Petunia complained, fanning herself.

Vernon agreed.

Petunia leaned over and kissed Vernon, running her hand over his wide chest as she did it, slipping her fingers between the buttons of his shirt to feel the hair on his skin. She closed her eyes and nuzzled his nose with her nose and he brought his hands over her back, along her spine between the curve of her hips, where her shorts ended and the middle of her back, where her bikini top strings tied. Vernon's hand was wide and his palms cool from having been holding the chilled wine bottle and Petunia kissed him all the harder as his fingers playfully twiddled with her bikini string, a low laugh against her kiss as she whispered into his mouth, "Oh naughty, Vernon..."

Suddenly there was loud barking and a big black dog came bounding over the dunes, dragging a rather large bit of driftwood, his tail wagging as he leaped about wildly, kicking up sand and shell. A spray of sand fell over Vernon and Petunia, like rain, and Petunia squealed in disapproval, her hands flapping as the dog tripped over it's own stick, rolled down the dune and landed squarely in Vernon's lap.

Petunia screamed.

The dog sat, dazed a moment, looking up at Petunia as she shrieked and dashed away, hiding behind one of the thick wood beams that supported the boardwalk above. He cocked his head at her as though he thought her quite odd, then looked at Vernon Dursley, who was shoving the dog off of himself. "Oh Vernon, Vernon, get it away from the blanket! It looks like it has fleas! Look how mangy it is! Vernon!!!" Petunia cried.

"Shoo!! Shoo, I say! Get away!" Vernon said, getting up and brandishing the dog with the empty wine bottle. "Get away!"

The black dog barked happily, dancing about, making Vernon turn and turn and wave his bottle at him as the dog's tail waggled and then he spotted Vernon Dursley's loafers and he bounded over, grabbed onto one of the shoes and ran away.

"WAIT -- MY SHOE! EXPENSIVE ITALIAN LOAFER THAT IS!" and Vernon went after him, shouting, waving the empty bottle...

Petunia came out from behind the beam, sniffling and snorting horribly in her distraught state. She was packing up the things they'd had when she heard Lily's voice carrying under the pier.

"SIRIUS!" Lily was shouting, "SIRIUS COME BACK HERE!... Ugh, I really should have put him on a leash... Why in blarney didn't I listen to Remus? Him and James both warned me and do I listen -- noooo..." Lily spotted the bit of driftwood Sirius had been dragging along and she shouted, "Sirius Black! You better be on the other side of this sand dune or I swear to Merlin I'll ---" and she came over the dune then and spotted Petunia, freezing in her place.