When September Ends

Chapter 11: Beneath the Willow Tree

"No. No! No! Stop it, Tom, it's going to tip!" Harry clung to the sides of the wildly listing canoe for dear life while Tom all but lay on his back at the bottom, his tall frame shaking with mirth and the paddles clutched haphazardly in his hands. "Arsehole! You want us to go into this water, don't you?"

"Maybe." Harry stuck his tongue out at him. "Why so frightened, love? It's only about twenty feet deep and infested with snakes."

"Thomas Marvolo Riddle!"

The brunet was laughing even harder now; the boat was drifting idly with the will of the black water and the raven was of half a mind to worry that his husband might soon turn blue. Though it would serve him right to choke to death on his own laughter after riling him up so much.

"Alright, fine. Fifteen feet, about, and no snakes." Harry relaxed. "There are alligators, though."

"Alli-! I'm not an idiot, idiot! I know that there are no alligators in the Mid-West!"

"Crocodiles, then."

"Tom!" Harry went to give them a half playful half reprimanding swat but shifted his weight too quickly for the liking of the canoe that they were in. It dipped violently just as he was getting to his feet and he tumbled over the side with a yelp.

Even in the middle of summer the lake was so cold that it was like falling into a bucket of ice. Silt clogged the water, blurring his vision and making his surroundings appear to be tinted in shades of amber. A small school of fish stared warily at him from nearby. A frond of some type of slimy lake plant brushed against the bottom of his foot. When his head broke the surface it was to the sound of Tom howling with laughter.

"It's freezing!" He squawked, floundering back towards the canoe while all but certain that he looked like a half drowned cat. "Help me get back to the canoe you ruddy bastard! This is your fault!"

"I do declare, my love, that you tipped yourself." Tom's head popped up over the side and grinned down at him. "How's the water?"

"Wet!"

"Well, isn't that a given?"

"Tom, please! This isn't funny!"

The brunet, though still smirking and chuckling, took mercy on his plight and reached down to help him back up into the canoe only to have Harry latch onto him with a smirk of his own and pull him over the side.

Tom resurfaced seconds later, shaking out his dripping hair like a dog would its coat and spitting on a mouthful of the lake. "One thing that never changes is the temperature. It's a good thing I left my phone in the car."

"You'd deserve having to replace it!"

"Oh, would I?" Harry sniffed at him and turned away. "Come now, love. Don't be like that."

"This isn't funny!"

"I disagree."

The raven whirled around. "I-ack!" Spluttering around the face full of water he received he glared at the other male.

"What? Aren't you going to get me back for splashing you darling?"

Green eyes widened, then narrowed. "Are you challenging me to a splash fight, Tom?"

"If I said yes, Harry," he took care to emphasize his name, showing off his perfect teeth in a wide grin, "what would you do about it?"

"What would I do about it?" the raven pretended to ponder the question momentarily while training water. "Just this."