Leifr wiggled his toes in the sand and surveyed the scene around him, not feeling as anxious as he used to when they’d had events like these in the past. He’d always felt like he had to keep watch, but now rather than feeling like he was constantly on edge, the ex-Gryffindor could push his nerves away and to the back of his mind, almost at will. It was a beautifully sunny day, and Trickett’s were everywhere, he made a mental note to make Torsten and Sindri play beach football with him a little later. If they played he was pretty sure he could get their dad to play too, and that was sure to be a crowd pleaser. It would probably devolve into one mass unorganized game then, too.
The wizard was pulled from his thoughts as a bottle of prosecco very nearly clipped him in the head, and the man turned around already laughing, a frown with no malice in it crossing his features “Trying to knock me out so you can bury me in the sand, or something?†He teased and gestured for Freya to hand him the bottle when she was done with it. He had a beer already, but he thought Alicia might want a glass, and he’d seen her talking to Hal earlier and was keen to snatch her away for a minute.
While he waited for Freya to finish with the bottle, Leifr plucked a few small bites of food off of the variety of trays that had been scattered across the many tables, going back for a second fudge brownie. Leifr made quick work of filling a glass of prosecco for Alicia but didn’t hurry away. It’d dawned on him that it had been more or less ages since he’d seen Freya and he wanted to catch up. Tucking both drinks somewhere safe and casting a no-spill charm on both Leifr made his way back over to stand at Freya’s shoulder and bumped her gently “So, how’s Gringott’s treating you?†he asked, working to help her sort as needed “have they decided to make you president yet?†He asked, his tone warm. He wanted to leave room for her to talk, if she wanted it.
While he gave her space to answer him, Leifr realized he hated that so many of the younger Trickett’s he remembered starting at Hogwarts like yesterday, were so grown and even though he’d been there for a lot of it, he still felt like he’s missed far too much, too. Especially when it came to Freya. Leifr truly didn’t have favorites, but if he had, Freya might have been among them. The young witch had especially good at making him feel like he wasn’t actually crawling out of his skin when he was at his lowest post-war. No one in the family had made it difficult, but they – he and Freya just got each other.
It didn’t hurt that Leifr had somehow become the ‘cool’ uncle that some of the younger Trickett’s came to for advice. Whoever had made that decision must have been out of their minds, he decided. Because he was most definitely not as wise as everyone made him out to be. And as if to prove his point, the wizard caught Freya’s eye and grinned mischievously “ Y’know…Alicia and I drove up,and I...might’ve stashed some water balloons in the trunk of my car for later...†He trailed off for dramatic affect. It wouldn’t be a Trickett party without some complete chaos, after all.
