Twilight of the Thunder God [Beatrice]

[Deleted]

@beatrice

01.11.2025

He was absolutely trashed. Twelve hours straight of drinking would do that even to him, a part-giant. Who would have guessed that after all these years, that was the reason he had never been hungover? Where his former teammates would wake up the next day and play matches hungover or still drunk, Bernhard was always on top of his game. It was no wonder the league ‘caught’ him. That was a filthy word to use, considering he didn’t mean to cheat. It sort of happened, and there had never been any reason to think he was anything more than a normal wizard. A very large wizard, yes, but part-giant?

Regardless, that was over a year ago now and the recent stressors of his new job as a bodyguard to the Minister had triggered this lovely drinking binge. Today was the first day he had had off in almost a month. There had barely been enough time to sleep, especially after the dragon attack, which he had been called out to deal with as well. While his magic wasn’t anything particularly impressive, pulling people out from underneath rubble and running them to safety was right up his alley. Even the few burns he had sustained were already gone. The same couldn’t be said about some of those poor people.

And since then, there had been grumblings about upping even more security on the Minister, especially after the prison break. He had glanced over the list of who was supposed to be locked up there (not who had escaped, because as far as he could tell, even they didn’t know that yet), and these made his bullies in school and some of the pro Quidditch players look like angels. Bernhard had zero drive to hunt them down, but if they tried going after the Minister it would be the worst day of their lives. Now he knew his limits of what he could and could not do, and that was all the better for him.

What he didn’t know though, were his limits when it came to drinking. Almost the entire surface of the table he was sitting at was covered in empty beer bottles. The server had decided it was easier to leave them all there, probably hoping he’d run out of space and leave, but that hadn’t slowed Bernhard down. He was finally getting into a nice buzz, a warm, fuzzy feeling finding its way onto his cheeks. Downing his current beer, he raised his hand drunkenly at the bartender, “Another one of these please, barkeep!” his words slurring off as he slammed the pint glass down onto the table.

[Deleted]

The match had gone on longer than Beatrice had expected it to, and by the time she had submitted her article to the Prophet, it was well and truly dark outside. Rubbing her tired eyes, Bea decided it would be in her best interest to nip into the pub down the street and get herself a pick-me-up, and possibly a pie if the kitchens were still open. She checked her watch; if she hurried, perhaps she’d have a chance to put in the last order of the day. Walking as fast as her short legs would carry her, she burst through the doors of the bar, and the door slammed against the wall. A few people stopped their conversations and glared over at her, but Beatrice held her head high, willing the blush in her cheeks to stay away. Straightening her jacket, she marched herself over to the bar to the last available seat. “A pint of your London Pride, and a pie if the kitchen is still open?” she asked sweetly, hoping it would help coerce the kitchen into making her once. A minutes’ pause, and the barkeep nodded, allowing Beatrice a sigh of relief.

Now that she knew she was about to be fed, Beatrice sipped on her ale and took a look at her surroundings. She saw at once just why this seat was taken; next to her a giant of a man had close to a dozen empty beer bottles in front of him, and had just ordered another. While his words sounded slurred, he didn’t seem piss drunk as normal people would with that many drinks in them. She looked at his face, and did a double take. Why, it was Bernhard Strom, the former Quidditch player! She tried not to fangirl, and kept her composure. It wasn’t like this was out of the norm for her; she spent her days around Quidditch players for Merlins’ sake! But there was something unique about the way Bernhard had played, and the fans had all been devastated when he decided to change careers. Finally, after another few sips of her beer, she decided to speak. “Excuse me, but are you Bernhard Strom?” she asked, gently putting a hand on his arm to grab his attention.

@bernhard