Gus’ laugh was drowned out by the hammering of the rain, and he held Winnie as he followed her up the hill toward the top; hopefully they could apparate from there and change into dry clothes. Gus felt like he deserved a hot cocoa for all the trouble, despite it only being August.

When Winnie lost her balance he wasn’t able to keep her upright, and she grabbed him as he tried to pull her up, and Gus landed straight on his butt and slid down the hill with her, now covered in wet grass and dirt. He wrinkled his noise before he was laughing and shaking his head, his shoes grazing the top of the pond that he was thankful neither of them had slid into. That would have been a terrible situation. As he flicked his gaze toward her, Gus couldn’t help but laugh with her.

His fingers clutched a handful of mud and he tossed it at Winnie, just for fun, as he grinned at her. They were already filthy. “Thought you’d never ask.” But he was already standing and moving to scoop his dear friend up bridal style from the ground, his hands tucking underneath her knees and then he apparated, figuring her place was better than going back to his parents house. (Or Irvingly. Introducing her to Algernon would be…weird.)

---

---