This Year's Love

Chapter 2 - A Chance Encounter

No one by the pool looked twice at the woman who had just appeared out of nowhere. A couple raised their sunglasses briefly to see who was there, but other than that they ignored her sudden arrival. Elizabeth nodded to the old witch at the desk of the hotel. "Hi. Elizabeth Yards, I should have a reservation for Chalet 12?"

Soon she was exploring the little cottage on the hotel grounds that she'd be staying in for the next couple of weeks whilst researching wizarding lifestyle in a tropical climate. Cautiously she opened the door, clutching the fastening of her sarong warily.

Elizabeth felt decidedly self-conscious as she settled herself onto a sun bed by the hedge. She fidgeted for a couple of minutes, trying to arrange the material so that it wouldn't show off her legs - which she hated. When that was done to her satisfaction, she folded her arms over her chest uncomfortably, wondering how all the other witches and wizards around the pool could relax when they were wearing even less than she was.

At about twelve a young pimply wizard came around and asked if anyone wanted to order any drinks or snacks. Folding her arms more tightly and sitting up, Elizabeth ordered a small white wine - Hey, I'm on holiday - and a chicken and pickle sandwich. The youth pulled a face at this order and slouched away.

A few minutes later, finally forgetting her paranoia, Elizabeth picked up the sandwich with glee. And was promptly interrupted by something cold and wet on her leg. She jumped and gave a little scream, looking down to see a quite huge black dog looking hopefully up at her.

"This is my lunch!" She said with a touch of laughter, despite her surprise.

The dog whined and sat down, all the time staring at her with imploring eyes. Imploring blue eyes. She frowned. As far as she knew there wasn't any type of dog except huskies which had blue eyes. And this dog's eyes were darker than a husky's. Plus it was way too big to be one of those little sled-pullers.

"Go ask someone else..." Her whine was almost exactly the same tone as the dog's. She looked up to see if anyone else was eating... and she found that no one else had ordered any food.

Elizabeth eyed first the sandwich, then the dog suspiciously. "Well... if the food here's that bad I guess I'd better test it on someone first..." She was shocked for a moment to see the dog's ear twitch as she said this, rather like a human raising their eyebrow.

Slowly she tore a piece of the sandwich off and held it out tentatively, hoping the dog wouldn't take her hand with the food. Yet again she was surprised. Very gently, the dog picked the sandwich off her hand and ate it quite delicately, wagging its tail all the time.

A wizard in the warm, clear water of the pool looked up and gave a little chuckle. "That's why we don't order lunch here. We all get pestered! Way too clever that dog is. You should try some of the Muggle shops in the town - they're dog-free."

Elizabeth smiled and looked down at the dog again. "No, it's okay thank you. He's kind of cute really."

The wizard laughed again. "You'll be taking it home with you now, I'm warning you..."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sure enough, Elizabeth found herself inviting the dog to follow her as she got up to leave the poolside. It hesitated for a moment, and a little disappointed - she'd always wanted a dog - she shrugged and headed for the path to her chalet. When she felt a dog's cold, wet nose nuzzle its way into her palm asking for a pat on the head, she laughed and scratched it behind the ear. "I knew you couldn't bare to leave the chicken-sandwich goddess."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Elizabeth was charming the take-away meals she'd ordered into cooking themselves. It was ten o'clock and dark outside and she'd spent the afternoon interviewing a few local wizards and witches. The dog had been a great help with this - none of them could say no when such a cute animal was asking for fuss. She'd left the dog in the small living room with her notes from the day, and it wasn't until she heard the rustling of papers that she wondered what was going on.

Thinking she'd imagined it, she shook her head and switched the Muggle radio on. She was dancing a little and singing badly to Cindy Lauper's 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' as she emptied a can of ratatouille into a small tray when she was sure she heard a mutter from the next room.

Elizabeth turned round to see -

"You know, I love this song."