One day before graduation. Why did he have to do it one day before graduation? Was it some sort of law in the male handbook that men had to dump their girls just one day before a big event? It just wasn't fair.

Penelope ran her fingers over the white taffeta of her graduation dress. "How Very ironic..." she thought, "It looks just like I'm dressed to wed when really I must spend this night alone." Feeling tears well-up in her light blue eyes, Penelope looked into the lake only to see the reflection of the Scottish Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood, standing over her.

"Good evening, Oliver. Is there any reason why you are out here?" asked the pretty little blonde girl.

"I was just out for a walk my last night on campus, and I saw you sitting here all alone. Is this about what happened with Percy yesterday night?"

She gave a nod. Oliver had always been nice to her, but she figured that like most men - - and Percy's best friend, non-the-less - - that he would just tell her to get over it. However, instead he took a seat next to her.

"That was awful inconsiderate of him." Said Oliver as he absent-mindedly plucked at the grass, "He didn't tell me until after he had already dumped you because he knew I would have tried and talked him out of it. What did he say, if you don't mind my asking?"

Penelope swept a golden ringlet out of her eyes as she looked up at the Quidditch captain, "He told me that now that he was going into the Ministry, he didn't have time for a girl...especially not one who is going to be an actress. He said that an actress isn't solid enough of a job and that he needed someone with more of a future ahead of her." After saying that, the poor girl just started sobbing, only for Oliver to take her into his arms.

"You know that's bullshit, Penny." He said, running his fingers through her soft, blonde, curls, "Most men would be honoured to be with an actress...or a girl as beautiful and wonderful as you are."

She couldn't help but smile at Oliver's comment. But why was he doing this? Wasn't he with that girl, Angelina, who he played Quidditch with? Still, all that she could say to him was, "Thank you, Oliver."

But then he tenderly took her face into his hands and kissed her in that soft, innocent, kind of way that makes one's heart melt. Penelope found herself closing her eyes and surrounding herself in the moment before she let reality set-in. And when she did, she immediately pulled back.

"Oliver! What do you think you're doing?! Just because I'm newly single and heart-broken, you think you can use this opportunity to take advantage of me?!" Cried the girl, standing up to make an escape from the area.

Poor Oliver looked abashed as he stood-up, running towards her, "No, Penelope, no! Listen, I may've gotten a little carried away, but I couldn't help it!" He said, taking her tiny hand into his, "I have loved you for so long that I jumped at the advantage to be your knight..."

"And just how many girls have you given that same speech to before?"

He looked deeply into her eyes, "None, Penny. Could you just imagine how it was for me everyday for the past two years to watch you snogging my best friend? My best friend who'd push you aside whenever his work came-up. I'd sit there and watch him cancel your dates, and although you said you understood, I could see the pain in your eyes. And yet I still couldn't do a damn thing about it. I loved you and I had to watch your beautiful eyes fill with pain whenever he'd brush you aside! Still, I figured that he'd propose to you after graduation and you'd be out of my life forever. Penny, I know you've been hurt, but why would I hurt the one thing that I care about most?"

She didn't want to fall into his trap, but she could see that his brown eyes were filled with only the truth. "Oh Oliver, I really ought to push you away. What kind of Scarlet Woman would I be to let you kiss me again like you did before?"

"You wouldn't be a 'Scarlet Woman' to let a man who loves you, kiss you."

She put her hand on the cheek of the Gryffindor Keeper, " But if I were to kiss you, you'd only want more."

"Penelope, all I've wanted, from the day in which you started tutoring me in Charms, is to hold you in my arms and feel your lips against mine. I would not ask for anything more. Just one kiss before we graduate and walk out of each other's lives forever."

She didn't say anything, but just let his lips press to hers. But this time she did not let her mind become consumed with anything but him. The tenderness of his touch, the spicy smell of his cologne, and the way that his lips parted as he fell deeper into the kiss, made Penelope feel as if there were butterflies in her heart. When he pulled back because he thought that he had surpassed his limet, she threw her arms around him begging for more.

"Oliver..." Penelope said when they had at last parted, "After tonight is it over?"

"Not if you don't wish it to be, because I don't."

And she didn't.