Dresden Academy

Who: Bill Ford and Veruca Kidd
What: Veruca's been looking at houses in Lake George. Bill wants to know why.
Where/When: Her house in NOLA. This very evening.
Rating: SFWish. Adult content and a smattering of language.


He didn't like taking the goddamn floo and he could still apparate, even though he'd given up his wand and stopped practicing magic altogether. It didn't erase the ability underneath his refusal. For years he insisted on traveling by muggle means, but this thing with Veruca had taken an interesting turn and he couldn't afford to pay air fare every time he wanted to visit her.

Not that she wasn't willing to pay his fare and bend to his muggle minded ways. Her only complaint was that his house wasn't a stop on the floo network, but Bill wasn't as well connected as he once was and that was an expense he wasn't willing to put forth. She could apparate in just as well as he did.

This afternoon found her lounging in bed while he looked something up on the internet. Sometimes he had to be a little sneaky to check up on his kids. Not in the terribly invasive nanny-cam way, but after the tip off from Walsh that they were up to no good on Abby and B's birthday; Bill thought it best to keep tabs on them by watching their wizarding web journals.

He shouldn't have been prying, but he was just as curious about what Veruca had been up to. It was a simple thing to click her browsing history and a hell of a surprise to find that she'd been looking up properties in Lake George and a few on the Way. He flicked his gaze to her, looking lovely as ever in a satin nightgown. He frowned despite how much he enjoyed the view.

"What's this all about?" he asked, turning the laptop to face her. It was a gorgeous property, too big for one person all on her own. It had enough bedrooms for Bill and his children and a few friends if they wanted. It was ludicrously priced, but he didn't doubt for a moment that Veruca had the means to pay for it.

She sighed. He'd pretend it was an accidental keystroke, but she knew better. Bill was being nosy and he knew all about the spying game. He was quite clever at getting to the bottom of any mystery. It should be quite obvious why she was looking at extravagant houses close to him. "It's all this apparating," she sighed. "I'm going to end up splinching the toes off my favorite shoes."

He snorted in reply and set the laptop back on her desk gingerly. It took him four strides to cross the room and slide back into bed with her. "You could have talked to me about it."

She flipped her hand in a twirl. So obvious. So you can talk me out of it? No. I'm done with this back and forth thing. "I was just looking," she replied idly, but her silky tone said that she'd already spoken with a real estate agent and was coming out next weekend to look at a few possibilities.

"V, don't you think it's a bit... Soon," he finished. They'd only fallen into bed during his trip in February. And after Walsh warned him about the party he figured that was entirely due to some subterfuge the girls laid on their aunt.

She sat up quite suddenly and stared at him for a minute, biting her lip and contemplating how much force she could put behind a slap and whether it would be worth the look on his face. Soon? Soon. It's been twelve years. They'd been flirting dangerously for years, more so in the past two years, though it hadn't been physical until just recently. Not for lack of want or trying. Bill had been holding back and then suddenly the dam broke and he was in her bed again as if he hadn't married her sister and had a family all those years ago.

He recognized the fiery look in her eyes. He didn't need to be a mind-reader to make the logical leap. She was furious that he'd even suggested this was a sudden turn of events. He was smart enough to recognize that this had been building for years.

"Billy," she practically cooed his name. It was her pet name for him, the one he recognized as her sweet and needy name for him. It was Bill when it was business. William when it was serious business. Billy when she was sweet-talking her way into something. She curled her fingers up into his curly mass of hair. He needed a haircut and to trim that ridiculous winter beard, but she rather liked him shaggy.

Damn you, he thought at her particularly hard. He was melting in that gentle caress and bending to her will. She was a seasoned practitioner at getting her way. If she wanted to move to Lake George nothing he could say would change her mind, even if it was the worst idea she ever had. "I'm not saying don't. I'm just saying that this is complicated."

"It's not going to get uncomplicated," she replied, shifting her weight to sidle closer to him. She'd waited long enough for him to come back around. She could feel the connection between them, still burning hot and bright the way it had when they'd first been together, before Violet complicated everything. "I just think it would be easier if I was closer."

He turned his head for a moment, just to escape that piercing gaze, but then he found he didn't want to escape it. His eyes moved back while his face stayed in place; looking at her sideways. A smile snuck onto his lips and he decided it was better sometimes to just give in. "Have it your way."

"Come with me. Let's look at some houses."

"Oh," he shook his head at that. There was the invisible line. It was one thing to move closer. It was another to play house, pretend they were looking together. He wasn't about to give up his cozy cabin in the woods. "No, V. This is all you."

She rested her hands on his bare chest, fingers easing their way through his soft mat of hair. It was disappointing, but not unexpected. Bill was quite set in his ways and wasn't about to sway in this regard. That would take a few more year worth of convincing.

Bill was never a fan of Veruca's need for opulence, but he understood it. He thought she was the kind of woman who deserved such luxury. She thrived in her palatial manor home; the secluded and homey cabin in the woods would just stifle her after a time. She needed big rooms to spread out in and adorn. Bill didn't; he liked simple living. It was a difference of opinion they were always going to stumble over.

"What should we tell the kids?"

He held his breath for a moment, because he'd been trying to avoid this very conversation. Hey kids, your Aunt Veruca and I have decided to shack up. Hope that's okay with you. They were still a bit pissed at him for lying about being a squib their whole lives. He didn't think upending their lives again by announcing his peculiar relationship with Veruca would go over very well. "I didn't think we were quite there yet."

Veruca smiled at him so fondly it came very close to breaking his heart. "How about I just say I wanted to be closer. They're almost all grown up, out of the nest anyway. They're about to start their own lives, Bill. They're not going to quibble about us moving on with ours."

For a moment he couldn't tell if she meant ours as in yours and mine or as in ours. There was a subtle distinction her southern lilt didn't quite belie. "I don't know about that," he said slowly. He figured they had a right to know, but not right now. Eventually, down the road, when things settled a bit and he and Veruca figured out if this would actually work. Then they could tell his kids. "I think... We should probably just... Keep it on the down low for now."

She laughed so easily, so light and happy. "They'll figure us out, Billy Ford."

He let it all go, all of his reservations about this entanglement, if only for a moment. For once he thought that it might not be such a bad thing. Leaning in he kissed that cheerful smirk from her face. Not such a bad thing at all.