Despite the early hour, the sun shone heavily, radiating warmth. Too much warmth.
Harry, the little menace, had dragged him to a…theme park. Tom did not know what a theme park was, but judging by the look on his husband's face, it really couldn't be anything pleasant. For him, at least. They stood before the entrance, but he could not see it past the droves of children crowding the square.
"C'mon, I already bought tickets online," Harry said, dragging him through the crowd. Tom tried to dodge whenever sticky hands came too close.
"You bought tickets where?"
Though he couldn't see it, he'd bet anything Harry rolled his eyes.
"Online, Tom. With Hermione's muggle computer. Which means we do not need to go stand in that queue." He pointed at the ticket counter, which really did have a long line of people in front of it.
They reached a metal gate-like contraption. Tom eyed it warily, trying to push past.
"Tickets?" the sound of a man came.
"Here," said Harry, allowing the Muggle to hold a small machine over their two pieces of paper. It beeped very loudly. Tom Did Not startle.
He leaned against the gate, and nearly fell flat on his face when it rotated, taking him with it into the park.
"Okay!" said Harry, bouncing beside him. "How about we go that way?"
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The first thing they arrived at had boats in the form of tree trunks. That would be nice and calm, right?
Right.
"AAAAAH!" yelled Tom as the boat suddenly made a rapid descend, landing with a huge splash. Harry snickered from behind him.
"So that's why you wanted to be behind me!" Tom growled, resisting the urge to cast a drying charm on his soaked-through clothes.
"Sorry," said Harry unapologetically. "How about something calmer?"
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Tom had to be supported by Harry as they got off El Paso. True to his word, it wasn't a rollercoaster, but a shooting ride. They had sat in a boat with fake laser guns attached to it, trying to shoot moving targets. Unfortunately, Harry hadn't realized Tom had a deathly fear of guns. And those in the attraction sounded very realistic.
"I'm not going on any more of these things!" Tom snapped.
"C'mon, that looks like a beginner's ride over there. I'm sure it'll be fine."
The beginner's ride was called the Bob Express. They didn't have to wait too long, and before long, they sat in a small cart.
A loud train whistle blew, and the cart began moving. It was…actually pretty okay. The cart went fast, but it didn't make any sudden movements. His clothes even started to dry up a bit due to the wind.
Next up was another tree-trunk boat attraction, which was really the same as the first one.
Except it was indoor, and in the dark.
"So then the French representative said- AAAAAAH!" screamed Tom as the boat dropped without any warning.
Harry snickered.
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After that, they went on a ride called Oki Doki, which had carts with clown's faces on them. It was, well, much like the Bob Express. Nice. Not particularly exciting.
"Ooh, that looks fun!" Harry said as it was finally their turn to get on. Tom blanched upon seeing their legs would be dangling in the air.
"I'm going to lose my shoes, these are Italian loafers, I can't have them drop into the pond!" he exclaimed.
Harry's grip on his arm turned claw-like.
"It'll be fine, darling."
While his shoes stayed on his feet, Tom wasn't as sure his stomach had stayed inside his body.
He sat on a low wall, breathing hard. Though Harry looked disappointed there weren't any more attractions close by, Tom was rather relieved. Checking his watch, he noted it was past noon. Damn queues.
"I think we should have lunch," he firmly said.
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A short walk and some rather disgusting fried food later, they stood in the line for an attraction called Speedy Bob.
"Is it really necessary to go on every ride?" Tom tried. Harry gave him a confused look.
"But…we're not going on every ride? I mean, I don't think the Typhoon over there looks very nice at all. Just look at that death drop!"
Sighing, Tom agreed that the Typhoon did indeed look like a ride from Hell.
They got into the carts, and were towed up. The cart picked up speed as it approached a turn.
Oh dear Merlin, they were going to fly off the track!
Just as Tom would have cast an Arresto Momentum, the cart swiveled sharply to the side, taking the turn at the very last moment.
A number of those turn later, Tom thought it was over.
Then the cart dropped.
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"I'm not sitting in front anymore," Tom growled as Harry dragged him to another boat ride.
"There's no front or back in these boats. They're round, duh."
It was a very nice boat ride. That is, until they approached a whirlpool.
Unfortunately, Tom had focused on it so much he failed to notice the drop in front of them.
"AAAAAH!"
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After they entered a building which stank of cheap fastfood, they had a choice to make.
"Let's go on the Revolution first," Tom sighed, hoping to avoid the Banana Battle. The people coming out of there looked very, very wet.
After yet another huge queue, they arrived at a long train of carts.
"Ooh, we can sit in one cart!" Harry said. Tom took place in the back of it, with Harry between his legs. The Muggle who came to check on the safety bar pushed it back just a bit too far, squishing both of them.
As the ride took off, Tom wondered what the safety bar had been necessary for. The cart merely spiraled up in a huge, circular room at a very moderate speed.
Then they exited the room through a hole in the wall, and it went to Hell.
"I have a headache," Tom groaned as they exited. It had been a bit like a duel in there, with so many flashes of light. Each time they passed a green one, Tom thought he would die.
"They weren't actually Killing cursus, you know," Harry commented as he dragged Tom to the Banana Battle. They took place in boats which were a cross between a Viking ship and a banana. It was a very odd look.
Then began the war.
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"I told you we shouldn't go on there!" Tom snapped as they tried to dry their clothes a bit in the infrared cabin. Naturally, you had to pay extra for it.
"Maybe you were right," Harry admitted. They'd had the misfortune of having a bunch of schoolboys in the boats before and after them. And boats could shoot water at each other.
Wet and grumpy, they made their way out of the building.
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"He's got fake eyes," Tom commented. Currently, they dangled in a huge cart. In the air, in the arms of a gorilla. Fake, of course. All fake.
King Kong's eyes glowed red, and he growled.
"…did I look like that?" Tom whispered to Harry. He got a punch to the arm for his troubles.
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"Okay," said Harry, checking his map. "We've got two attractions left. Naga Bay and Fury."
The makers of Naga Bay did not know what a Naga looked like. They did, however, know how to make a very scary rollercoaster.
It was probably the worst one yet. It had taken a sneakily taken stomach-soother to get Tom moving again.
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"Time for the epic final!" cheered Harry. "Fury, here I come!"
Tom looked at the Fury, and blanched. It was the newest rollercoaster, and also the fastest. It did loop-de-loops and corkscrews, and there was no way in hell he was getting on there.
"Oh, fine," pouted Harry. "Spoilsport."
As it turned out, watching Harry risking his life on the Fury might have been worse than going on it himself.
Tom did feel a little vindicated when his husband returned looking pale and shaken, though.
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"How was your trip to Belgium, Milords?" Lucius asked.
"Awful," Harry and Tom replied together, before looking at each other.
"Well, at least the ICW conference," amended Harry. "The theme park was fun."
Tom glared at him.
"I much preferred the conference to those deathtraps."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Just admit you liked it. Why else would you have gone on all those rides?"
To Lucius's astonishment, his Lord actually pouted.