Perhaps it should have alarmed Ford that Lestrange had thought it likely they both might fall into the lake and had still agreed to do this, but at the moment he just found the idea a little funny. Wandering back to the house with his hair and his clothes all wet and dripping… what would Verity have said? Don’t worry about it, Ver, I just decided to go for a swim, fully clothed. But I had great company, you know — magical royalty, so you can’t be mad.

“Well, life is full of surprises,” he pronounced sagely (or something like it — he was too drunk to sound properly wise). He angled his head a little closer to Lestrange’s, enjoying the feeling of another body close at hand while he continued staring up at the stars.

---