6 YEARS LATER
Oliver was behaving oddly and honestly, it was setting me a little on edge.
We were supposed to be going to his parent's home for dinner, but he was being so formal about it as if I hadn't met them before. Even before we started dating, the pair of us had been friends for years and I had been introduced to them a countless number of times. So really, I just didn't understand why he was so nervous about being around his parents.
"What is wrong with you?" I asked with a sigh as I walked through Oliver's apartment and towards the coat rack to grab my coat.
Oliver took it from my hands, holding it out for me to slip into. "It's nothing," he assured me before wrapping an arm around my waist as he prepared to apparate the pair of us to his parent's home. "But why aren't you nervous?"
"Should I be?" I questioned, taken aback as I glanced up into his face. Whilst I hadn't been worried before, his line of questioning was suddenly making me anxious that I'd done something to offend his parents. "The last I heard, your parents love me."
"And they do," he promised firmly. Feeling my searching gaze on his face, he smiled softly and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "They do – I promise. You've got nothing to worry about."
"Then stop making me worry," I said with a sigh that made Oliver laugh quietly. Even when I reached out to swat at his chest, he didn't stop his laughing. "Are you going to apparate us away or am I going to need to do it?"
"No, let's go." He reached into his pocket to retrieve his wand and apparated us away to his parents' house.
Within seconds we found ourselves standing in the entryway of his family home and we were greeted by his parents. Our stay lasted longer than I had expected; we stayed long past dinner and the hours ticked by with Oliver showing no signs of wanting to leave. Whilst I understood his reluctance to leave his childhood home after months of returning to it, I didn't understand why we were still here with the clock almost ticking towards midnight. Did he plan on spending the night here? Rowena, if that had been his plan and he hadn't seen the need to mention that to me, then I was going to have some very strong words with him when we got back.
Mrs Wood, as if reading my thoughts, took one look at the clock before announcing, "You might as well spend the night here – it's an awfully long journey."
That takes seconds whilst apparating, I thought internally as I looked to Oliver with narrowed eyes. But my oblivious boyfriend avoided my eyes and continued the game of chess he was playing with his younger brother. Merlin, I was beginning to think that he really had planned this.
From beside me, Mrs Wood cleared her throat to get my attention and I looked at the eagerly waiting woman. "So? What do you say?"
"I don't see why not," I agreed reluctantly, forcing myself to smile at the older witch.
"Perfect," she beamed, "I'll have Oliver's old room fixed up for the pair of you and we can discuss the wedding while we wait."
"Wedding?" I repeated, hoping I'd misheard her but she just nodded. My heart sunk a little. "Whose wedding?"
"Yours of course."
"We're not even engaged," I protested, expecting Oliver to pipe up and say something to save me from his mother's claws but he remained without a word. Merlin, he really hadn't been kidding when he said she'd already panned a future all in her head.
"You are going to get married, aren't you?" she demanded, looking aghast. She looked to her husband for support but he simply sighed and looked back to his newspaper.
"I guess."
She took offence to my whispered words. "You guess – the pair of you are living together and you have no plans on getting married?"
"But we're not living together," my protests fell on deaf ears.
"Oli!" she called out to her eldest son who finally looked up from the chessboard. "What do you think about the wedding? Next summer? What about it, we can have it here?"
"Whatever you want Mam," he agreed, although his eyes were fixed on mine.
Now after dating someone for years, after having been friends with that person for even longer, you got to know someone extremely well. And I knew from the tone of his voice that his words hadn't just been spoken to appease his rather pushy mother. No, he meant it and it was like another revelation. Had he really used his mother to get her to propose for him? Because he knew that at least this way I wouldn't be able to say no outright?
Merlin, where was the Gryffindor courage he used to rave on about?
"So, what about it?" Coming from my thoughts, I looked to Mrs Wood and took a deep breath at the depth of happiness her eyes showed. "Anyway, we can discuss the details at a later date – but one question? What about the grandchildren?"
"Grand-grandchildren," I repeated. Merlin, I was beginning to feel lightheaded.
"How many are you planning on having? Are you planning on raising them in Scotland? Or in Ireland?"
"We're having an entire quidditch team," Oliver piped up, making his brother snicker. He made no mention of the way I narrowed my eyes warningly at him. "Is that enough for you Mam, or do you want enough for substitute players too?"
