AN: Decided I wasn't going to have time to clean up the longer chapter enough to get it up in a timely fashion. I've broken it into two pieces to save my sanity. I'm still seven days a week until Christmas so writing time is hard to come by. I hope you can forgive me for not making with the meatier chapter I had promised. Title is the song by Cold.

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Harry Potter or its related properties.

Stupid Girl

Oliver walked into the slight chill of the night, watching as his breath puffed out into the night sky. This was not how he wanted to be feeling. He wished he'd been able to just pick a groupie and shag them in a bathroom stall to erase her from his mind, but he was never really the kind of man who could do that. Unlike Cameron, and many of his other teammates, Oliver was no good at bouncing back from heartbreak. He needed time and space. Something he'd had all too much of when they'd been together as it was. He wasn't sure what would get him through this time. It's not like he could soothe himself with the knowledge she was going through the same thing. She hadn't even stayed around long enough to say goodbye. The memory of waking to find her already gone that morning made him tighten his jaw in frustration. This was not how things were meant to play out. How could she just disappear like that? He wasn't having it. He'd played by her rules the last six months, enjoying every moment he had with her. But this? This he would not take her lead on. Whether she was okay with it or not, he was getting a proper goodbye.

The sudden "crack" of someone's arrival made Hermione sit up like a shot. She clambered out of bed and struggled into her dressing gown and slippers, assuming it would be someone from the Ministry with important business standing in their hallway. As she stumbled down the stairs in the dark she remembered that Percy wasn't home this evening, not that she knew where he was staying tonight. She'd long since stopped asking for excuses for why he didn't come home, not wanting to put him in the position to lie to her. She assumed he was with his lover, whoever he was, and knew Percy was not likely to admit that was where he was. He hadn't even come out to her yet. She suspected he knew she'd been sleeping with someone else, but he'd never asked or said a word. So she'd given him the same space, knowing that everything they built could unravel if they ruined the illusion.

"Hello?" she called out, her wand drawn in front of her as she made her way to the source of the noise.

"Hermione?" her breath caught, recognizing the voice. Her chest tightened and her heart hammered as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Oliver?" Her voice was more choked with emotion than she would have preferred to let on, especially given that she wasn't meant to see him anymore. She'd promised herself that much, that she wouldn't risk her job or Percy's by continuing the affair.

He looked tired. And angry. And as though he might cry. The sight made her feel guilty. She had done this to him, she knew that. She should never have agreed to let him take care of her all those months ago. It hadn't done either of them any good. He looked the way she felt, never having been one to bury his emotions deep down the way she was able to. She wondered how quickly Cameron had caught on that they'd ended things and if he'd tried to distract his friend with something besides her disappearing act.

"You didn't say goodbye." He forced out, anger and sadness equally colouring the words.

"I…" she put up her hands defensively and started to respond. Her cheeks flamed to deep red at the way she'd treated him. There really wasn't anything she could say to justify her actions, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from trying.

"Stop. No excuses. You didn't say goodbye. How could you? Did I really mean so little to you? How could you just leave like that? As if nothing had happened…" he trailed off as his voice continued to rise the longer he talked, turning his back to her and crossing his arms over his chest. He crossed into the living room in the dim light of the dying fire. She followed behind him, rage at his blindness building steadily in her chest.

"How could you think that? That you mean so little to me? Don't you know how much this hurts? I made the choice to keep this going when it should have been a one-time thing. I kept finding excuses to see you, to be with you. Knowing full well all I was doing was setting myself up for heartbreak. How can you not see that? You have no idea how I feel, Oliver! How could you? It's not like we ever talked about anything besides sex or when we'd see each other again. It's not like we had a real relationship. And you wonder why I didn't say goodbye?" She all but growled at him, her voice reaching a level she knew would have woken up Percy had he actually been home. But, no, she was alone as she often was. And now Oliver was here to make her feel terrible about it.

"Dammit, Hermione!" He spun back on her, crossing the distance between them as she backed herself into a wall. He slammed his palms against the wallpaper on either side of her face. She felt her breath catch in her throat, freezing in place and desperately wanting to melt into the wall. His passion and temper had played a big part in how she'd fallen for him, seeing him like this now was too much for her heart to take and not want him to ravage her. She hated him a little for it in that moment.

"Stupid girl, don't you see? I fucking love you!" he stared her down, fire burning behind his chocolate eyes. He breathed heavily and searched her face for a reaction, relaxing slightly as he realised he may have scared her. As he started to open his mouth again to apologise she slapped him, hard, causing him to stumble several steps away from her. Before he could register what had happened, she launched herself into his arms, digging her hands into his hair, and kissing him with all the intensity that had been building over the last six months.

He lifted her from her feet, wrapping her legs around his waist as he pushed them both back against the wall. This had not been his intention when he'd decided to demand a proper goodbye. But here they were, once again tangled in each other when they shouldn't be. His lips burning a hot trail across her flesh as she clawed at him and urged him on.

"I love you too. I love you… I love you… I love you… That's why I couldn't say goodbye. If I said it, I couldn't walk away." She breathed in his ear, moaning loudly when he bit her neck the way she liked.

"You can't leave me again, Hermione. Not now." He growled, knowing full well he was asking her to take back their agreement. To ignore that they both knew this was wrong. And stupid. And dangerous. He knew all these things, but he couldn't let her go.

"No." She breathed, arching into his touch as his fingers glided over her core.

"No?" He stilled and began to back away, surprised when she stilled his hand and kept it where it was.

"No, I won't leave you. Not now. Take me upstairs." She panted in his ear, no longer caring why this was a bad idea.