Title: Brightest Witch of Her Age
Words: 2007
Pairing: Laurel/Oliver
Genre: Romance/Adventure
Status: Done
Dedicated to sofyperonista. This is for her Birthday and I hope I did it justice.
Summary: Oliver takes Laurel on a surprise Harry Potter Vacation where she meets someone really rather special.
Oliver straightened up his tie and looked over at the window. He was nervous how this was going to play out, because well, he had never really done this before. Put himself on the line.
Laurel rang his bell and he opened the door. She wore this great bright red, almost a peppermint color sheath dress that covered shoulders, but let the rest of her arms bare. It came in at the waist and stopped right above her knees. "You look beautiful," He said and she blushed.
He thought it was cute that she blushed everytime he called her beautiful. "Are you ready to go?" She asked.
He nodded and they got in his car. He hadn't wanted them stay in the same room until tonight. Because that would ruin the magic of the thing because he would want to tell her, but when he got to the studio lot, she looked at him funny. They were late for any tours. And surely, there wasn't something super magnificent in here that he wanted to take her all the way to london that they couldn't get in Starling.
"It's better than you think," He said with a grin and took her hand and they walked up to the gates where they were greeted by a Mr. George Gogvaghn.
"You must be Mr. and Mrs. Queen," The old man said. Laurel looked to Oliver and Oliver nodded. "Right through here, everyone else is already waiting for you,"
When they went through the gate, they walked a little further to some doors, which Oliver let Laurel open. And her mouth fell open.
She looked at him and it looked like she was about to cry. "You did not do this. You did not." She said as she hit him playfully on the the arm.
"I did," He said, "Don't thank me just yet though, there's still more." He said. She took a minute to take it all in. To really take it all in. She didn't have to push her way through with tons of people. He couldn't do much for her now back in Starling but he had paid for these plans long before his money was starting to cut short.
George watched them with a smile. "You two are a very happy couple. I've never seen anyone do so much for their wife," He said. And Laurel was looking desperately at the sorting hat, wanting to touch it. "Go on," He said.
She picked it up and put it on her head and it shouted "Gryffindor." She jumped and took it off and all it did was look like it had a smile where the brim and the rest of the hate met. "That's some trick." She said with a grin and put it back down.
"It's magic. Always has been," George winked and she couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but she liked to think he wasn't. It was part of the magic of this place.
The bright red remembrall turned grey when she picked it up and she scrunched her nose at the sight. It was all very weird and mysterious, but it was brilliant. It was exactly what she wanted.
They walked through toward the replica of the great hall and she saw some people a the other side of the hall and looked to Oliver who shrugged as if to say I have no idea what is going on here.
As they neared, she saw and squeezed his hand. "Didn't expect that did you?" He asked.
"I don't even know how you got her here, but thank you." Laurel said in a daze. What she didn't know is that she did most of the work. She was the brilliant one. She was the one they wanted to see. And he had the money to bring her here.
Laurel stopped in front of the other guests and nodded to them, "Mr. and Mrs. Queen," George introduced them, "this is Ms. Watson, force of nature, brightest witch of her age," He said with a wink and Emma laughed it off.
When Laurel looked back the tables, at least one was full of food and she hadn't heard any movement around them. "Magic?" She asked George.
"Magic." He replied.
Oliver smiled as he nudged her. She looked over to him and he pointed up. "Look," He said with a smile.
She looked up and saw the candles floating in the sky. "This is the most ridiculous adventure you've taken me on," She said to him and nudged him back. She didn't do it hard like she might have if she was home. She was aware that she was in the presence of celebrity and was a little more reserved.
Emma looked to Laurel and smiled. "Your first time here?" She asked.
"Yeah," Laurel smiled and scratched the back of her neck. "It's a dream come true. These books, they meant a lot to me as a kid. I'm sure you hear that a lot." She said, and blushed for the first time since beginning the night.
Emma shook it off. "These books mean a lot. Jo put a lot into them. It's natural for them to mean a lot to you. They mean a lot to me. Oliver tells me, you're quite the lawyer and the activist these days."
"Yes, I am," Laurel replied and blushed again.
Emma lead them to the table and smiled, "That's actually what I want to talk to you about,"
Laurel looked to Oliver confused and he just nodded. Go with the flow. He was giving her this opportunity to talk to Emma Watson and she wanted to talk about how great Laurel was and Laurel was confused. "Okay?" She asked, a little nervously.
"Obviously, you know, we just started our major campaign, HeforShe." Emma smiled.
Laurel nodded. "Yeah, I love it. I love that you're trying to get men involved. It's a great cause, especially for the UN." She said and felt a little startstruck.
"I've been looking for a sort of high profile woman to be my American Ambassador, who was not an actor. I thought someone in a private sector, and Oliver came along and he talked very highly of you." Laurel couldn't believe her ears.
It was kind of like having Hermione ask you, the ravenclaw of your group if you wanted to sit with her. She was the chosen one's best friend. And she was asking for Laurel's help in the cause. She thought Laurel was a valuable asset to feminism. "Yeah, I mean, of course, I would love to be the American Ambassador for the HeforShe campaign."
They sat down to eat and it was like it was just out of movies. The food tasted as good as it was described and how good it looked on screen. "You would have been fun on set." Emma said with a little bit of a demure smile and she reached for her bag. "I thought you might want this," She said. "It's not the original one. I can't ever give that away, but this is better than the replica."
In her hands was a time turner, one that didn't have the long chain like the one she had at home. And Oliver smiled at her as he put it on her. "It looks beautiful on you." He told her as he kissed her neck.
"We'll announce you in a couple of days. After you go home." Emma assured Laurel who didn't really care when the announcement was. "You should have some time to enjoy the sites. From what I've heard this is just one of the magical surprises that Oliver has in store for you." She laughed gently.
Oliver shrugged when he saw her looking. "Tommy and I promised you, that we would get you a part in this world. And we meant it. Now, we can't literally get you in the movies, but we can get pretty close," He said and picked a package up from underneath the table. "I brought you to London, with the barest essentials, but I bought us a camera." He said and put it on the table. "So we could go through all of the places they filmed at and you could have your own Hogwarts."
"This is perfect," Laurel said and kissed him on the cheek. They finished their dinner and they left Emma and George and they walked through the rest of the tour which was just as magical as the first part. "You're insane you know that."
Oliver shrugged. "I may have been told that on more than one occasion. But Queens keep their promises." He said lightly. "Tommy would have loved to see your face," He said suddenly. She thought about him too. It was hard to get away from here.
It was easy to think about him and how he didn't get to experience the magic with them. But in a way, he always was. "I think he did see it. I think he thought you were really brave." She told him as climbed the knight bus and looked out a window at him.
He shook his head. "I've faced armies. Facing a celebrity my girlfriend loves, it shouldn't have been hard." He said as he smiled at her. He admitted his bravery, which she liked.
As they went to the room of requirement, they held hands and breathed in. It was spooky, but it was also sort of calming. It reminded her of therapy. And true to from, the magic kept coming as a mistletoe sprouted above them. "Mistletoe," she pointed up and out.
"So it is," He smiled and took her in his arms and gently kissed her, they probably weren't the only people who kissed in here, but it felt special. There was no one watching. And they were in a place that had so many memories even though it was their first time being there.
Maybe because it actually wasn't their first time being there.
Sure they hadn't actually been in this physical space, but one of the last times they kissed, they had watched this movie. They went out to Order of the Phoenix and he planned this elaborate party for them and some of their closest friends and he bought their way into the best seats, because even back then, he was not shy about throwing his money around.
"You take things I don't think I even want and make them into treasures," She said as she twiddled her thumbs and smiled.
Oliver smiled. "I know you. And I wanted to give you this back." He said. He'd left before they got to read the last book together. And he promised when he came back they would do it. She probably didn't read it for a long time. And then of course, all it did was remind her of his broken promise.
He took her by the hand and walked her through some of the last bits and then they met back up with George, "Just as magical as you expected?" He asked with a grin.
Laurel nodded. "Way more than I expected." She promised him.
"Have fun on the rest of your trip," He said and they went back to the car. What Oliver didn't tell her was that they had gotten pictures of her every step of the tour in all of her awe of being in this place her youth belonged too. George chased them down, "You forgot this," He said as he took a big box to them.
She looked to Oliver who shook his head. "Not till we get home, which you'll see has some interesting touches," He said and smiled.
"So I'm allowed in your room tonight?" She asked and an eyebrow went up.
He nodded. "It was always in the plan. Trust me, you're gonna love it." He said and put the box in the trunk and got in and drove home.
"I already do," She said as she patted his hand.
