In his current state Ford was as easily distracted as he was redirected. All thoughts of situations left him as Lestrange pointed out a rowboat with an oar. They’d gotten down to the water’s edge fairly quickly, hadn’t they? Or had they been walking longer than he’d thought? It felt as though they’d only been at the entrance a moment ago and — oh, maybe it was just because he was drunk and time was starting to seem a little more fluid than it ought to, but if that was the case than he was very drunk, which was a little worrying. If it bothered Lestrange, though, at least he hadn’t said anything about it yet. Ford made a mental note (which he would doubtless not remember) to send Lestrange a letter tomorrow and apologize for being an ass, just in case he was without realizing it.
“We need two oars, but —” he said, liberating one from another nearby boat with a flourish, which was not at all a good idea when he was this intoxicated. He wavered slightly on his feet but managed to get them both down again, and made a dramatic gesture with his arms that he hoped made the whole thing look a little silly and not like he’d nearly lost his balance. “Let’s go,” he said, climbing in before Lestrange could protest.
It was hardly any work to get it underway, even uncoordinated as he currently was — just one knot to undo and a good shove off of the little dock and soon enough they were surrounded by black water, with the lights from Hogsmeade just a blur in the distance (or blurred to Ford, anyway; maybe Lestrange was still seeing them clearly). “You haven’t done this before?” he asked; he thought vaguely that they’d talked about it a long time ago and Lestrange hadn’t said anything about it, but he couldn’t exactly remember. “I love this. It’s the only place in Hogsmeade that’s really quiet.”
“We need two oars, but —” he said, liberating one from another nearby boat with a flourish, which was not at all a good idea when he was this intoxicated. He wavered slightly on his feet but managed to get them both down again, and made a dramatic gesture with his arms that he hoped made the whole thing look a little silly and not like he’d nearly lost his balance. “Let’s go,” he said, climbing in before Lestrange could protest.
It was hardly any work to get it underway, even uncoordinated as he currently was — just one knot to undo and a good shove off of the little dock and soon enough they were surrounded by black water, with the lights from Hogsmeade just a blur in the distance (or blurred to Ford, anyway; maybe Lestrange was still seeing them clearly). “You haven’t done this before?” he asked; he thought vaguely that they’d talked about it a long time ago and Lestrange hadn’t said anything about it, but he couldn’t exactly remember. “I love this. It’s the only place in Hogsmeade that’s really quiet.”
Set by Lady!