Chapter Four:
Between The Seconds of Your Life.
'Only believe the things I wrote,
I'll put it in a note, yeah,
I'll cross my T's and dot my I's,
Better say hello, don't you dare say goodbye,
I'll write sincerely yours and sign my name,
P.S. I love you, forever and today.'
I couldn't sleep. Again.
Lying flat on my back and staring at the ceiling, I fiddled with the ring, grazing my shaking fingertips over the contours of the silver and the smooth surfaces of the gems. It was the most amazing piece of jewellery I'd ever seen. And it was mine.
My stomach jolted.
Filled with dozens of emotions, each one attempting to send me over the edge of sanity, it was whirling and clenching making me feel intensely nauseous.
Honestly, my automatic answer to Oliver's untimely proposal was "yes".
How could any girl say "no" to a beautiful letter like that, let alone me, who's known him her entire life? That letter wouldn't have been easy for him to write, I knew, he wasn't the type of boy – man, actually – who could just sit and pour his emotions out on paper… he's definitely the more hands-on type of male.
Now that I thought about it, having feelings for him wasn't as insane as I'd first thought it was – after all, my whole life had been spent listening to people telling me to wake up and admit I'm crazy about that boy from his brown Bambi eyes to his bootlaces.
No, it wasn't nearly as insane as I'd thought it was…
In fact, it wasn't insane at all.
Oliver…
Chaos had erupted around us.
Lying sprawled on my stomach next to Charlie, who was grumbling irritably, I gripped my wand with a shaking hand, listening for Bill's instructions.
'Alright you two, we need to get everyone to the Pass,' said Bill, elbowing Charlie, who was still grumbling, 'and since all the Death Eater attention is on us here, the Pass should be clear.'
I nodded to show I understood.
'Okay,' he continued on, 'so, on the count of three, Charlie and I are going to Apparate to the Pass, and you, Oliver, are going to get to Lupin and Dad and tell them to send everyone two at a time, to the Pass, where me and Charlie will cover them.'
I swallowed nervously and nodded again.
'Count of three, I run to Lupin and we'll all meet you at the Pass?'
Bill smiled and clapped me on the shoulder.
'That's it mate, good luck… ready Charlie?'
Charlie grunted.
'Okay then,' Bill set his jaw resolutely, 'one…'
Something exploded overhead and the three of us ducked our heads.
'Two…''Oliver,' said Charlie suddenly, 'what's in the box?'
Rolling his eyes at his brother, Bill clipped him up the back of the head, before bellowing 'THREE!'.
Springing into action, I lunged forwards, my eyes focused solely on the tall, lean form of Lupin.
Curses and hexes rained down on me, and my quidditch-born reflexes carried me from right to left, out of the way. I bolted straight past Roger, who was hidden behind a shrub, blood dripping from a gash across his brow.
'Oliver!' called Lupin, confused, 'where's Bill and Charlie?'
I leapt into the ditch next to him, panting heavily.
'Apparated to the Pass, waiting for us to come two at a time.'
Lupin sighed.
'Trust those two.'
I shrugged, there seemed no fitting response.
'Alright,' he said, his teaching background obvious in his voice, 'run and tell Fred, George and Roger. You four apparate first and then Arthur, Tonks and myself will come last.'
I nodded, setting my jaw and running out into the open again towards the twins, who were hidden behind a large tree, each taking turns to cast hexes in the enemy's direction.
'Fred! George!' I bellowed, getting their attention.
Turning around, they began to cover my back so that I could get to them as quickly as possible.
'Well hello there el Capitan,' George greeted me happily, as if there wasn't at least one hex flying our way every few seconds.
'Fancy seeing you here,' Fred remarked in much the same manner as his twin, 'and what can we do for you?'
'We've got to apparate to the Pass,' I said hoarsely, my throat sore from breathing in the smoky air.
'Shall do Ollie-dear,' Fred said with a smart salute, 'we'll cover you until you get to Roger and then we'll be on our merry way.'
Rolling my eyes, I laughed briefly before running for Roger, who was being bombarded with curses every which way, his shrub-cover disintegrating rapidly.
'Apparate Roger!' I yelled, 'Apparate!'
'Where?' he called back dumbly, and I groaned, continuing to run for him.
So much for him being in bloody Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, the idiot had no brain at all... well at least not at the moment, anyway.
'The Pass!' I hissed at him, turning back to look at the twins, who sent me a simultaneous thumbs-up and disappeared.
'Oh, right,' he panted, with a crooked smile.
I gritted my teeth, it was infinitely better to say nothing, at least for now.
'Okay, let's go.' He said, obviously as eager as I was to get out of here.
Nodding, I raised my wand and we left the forest together with a concurrent apparating crack.
Katie…
'Good morning sunshine!'
Startled awake by Lee and his mischievous sing-song voice, I was instantaneously blinded when he yanked open the curtains of the small window next to my bed.
'Argh! Dammit Lee!'
Laughing raucously, he grinned at me, his white teeth gleaming.
'I don't know who sounds more irritated this morning – oh well, afternoon – you or Angelina.'
This was instantly answered when the sounds of Angelina arguing with Mrs. Weasley travelled upstairs.
'What are they arguing about?' I asked, surprised; Angelina, though snappy, would never normally argue with an adult.
'Fred.' He said simply, his brow furrowing slightly.
I opened my mouth to encourage him to elaborate, but he shook his head.
'It's nothing really, they're just both on edge and Mrs. Weasley was sick of Angelina snapping at everyone.'
'Oh.' I said quietly, using my forearms to prop myself into a sitting position and letting out a hiss when I leant on something rather painful. Reaching down, I picked up Oliver's ring, smiling slightly.
Lee surveyed the ring with his usual cool grace.
'What're you going to say?'
My smile grew wider, which Lee took as an answer in the affirmative.
'Congratulations Kates.' He said happily, laughing and punching me in the arm with brotherly affection, just as he always did.
'Just… Just don't tell anyone, I want to tell them myself.' I said, a grin splayed across my face despite my best effort to contain it.
'My lips are sealed.' He replied, pointing his wand at his lips and spello-taping them shut.
I giggled, before pushing him away from the bed.
'Get out of here idiot.'
He winked, bowed elegantly and left the room, lips still stuck together.
Somewhere amidst his travels towards the kitchen he must've encountered a thoroughly annoyed Angelina, because a minute or so later there was a loud "rrrip!" and an indecently loud scream.
'Aaargh! Angelina!'
Laughing, I laid back onto the bed, holding the ring up in front of my face and gazing at it dreamily. 'Oliver, Oliver, Oliver… what in the world am I going to do with you?'
'Jump his bones, perhaps?' asked a voice from the doorway and I jumped, startled.
Angelina laughed evilly, obviously in a much better mood now she'd managed to inflict some kind of bodily pain on Lee, who I could still hear moaning about his brutally waxed lip.
'So you're going to say "yes" then?' she said, sitting down on the edge of my bed and turning to face me with a flurry of long, dark braids.
'I think so.' I replied, slipping the ring onto my finger and holding it up to the noon sunlight.
'That is one large rock.' She commented, leaning forward and taking my hand so she could survey the ring properly, 'Looks ancient.'
'Well, it was his grandmother's.' I said, extracting my hand from her grasp and picking up the letter, scanning it for at least, the twentieth time.
'KATIE!'Rolling her eyes as Mrs. Weasley's voice floated up into the room, Angelina stood up abruptly. 'She has breakfast for you.'
Looking up at her curiously, I frowned.
'What were you two arguing about earlier?'
She sighed, sitting back down again.
'It was nothing really,' she said, all of a sudden sounding strained and tired: two most un-Angelina-like qualities, 'Alicia, Ginny and I were all sitting around the table talking about the boys, and I commented that living with Fred must be nightmarish – when he stayed with me and my family that weekend in the holidays last year I had to clean up after him constantly or else my mother would've lost it – and then Mrs. Weasley just sort of erupted.'
I raised an eyebrow.
'What d'you mean she "erupted"?'
'Well,' she continued on, looking tireder than ever, 'she started yelling at me, saying that Fred was a good boy and that if I didn't like him for who he was, then I didn't deserve him and that, that… that I shouldn't waste my time hanging around here complaining about him while he's over in Bulgaria fighting for – for – oh God.'
To my utmost horror, she dissolved into sobs, her face hidden by the fistful of quilt she'd been clenching moments earlier.
'A-A-Angelina,' I stammered, completely gob-smacked by my proud, strong friend's lapse of control, 'I-I…'
And then, to my complete and total bewilderment, I was crying with her, bawling my eyes out onto Oliver's letter, smudging the ink beyond recognition.
'Bloody hell; leave you two alone for two minutes and look what happens!'
Teary-eyed and blubbering, both Angelina and myself looked up shamefully to see Lee back again, his tall frame standing in the doorway with its usual effortless ease.
'Oh piss off Jordan.' Angelina muttered, standing up and wiping her face with her sleeve, making to leave the room.
'Aw, c'mon Ange, I was joking,' said Lee cajolingly, walking over and trying to make her sit back down, 'c'mon its okay, I'll leave if you want.'
The look she flashed him was so sinister in nature, I instinctively recoiled up against the wall, but it was nothing compared to the look she gave the floor when Mrs. Weasley bustled in, my breakfast on a tray.
'Katie dear, you weren't coming down so I thought I'd better – oh,' stopping short as she took in my tear-stained face, Angelina's ugly expression and Lee's exasperated grimace, she frowned slightly, 'what's going on?'
'Nothing Mrs. Weasley, it's fine,' Lee said gently, springing into action and taking the tray from her hands, 'Katie and Ange are just a little emotional.'
'Ah,' she said with a knowing little smile, which she sent solely in my direction, apparently still annoyed with Angelina, 'well, if you need anything dears, just let me know.'
She left, bustling back out the door and ushering a curious Ginny, who'd stuck her head in on the proceedings, back downstairs.
'You can't even have a good bloody cry in this place without company.' muttered Angelina darkly, collapsing back onto the bed next to me.
Laughing, Lee walked over and placed the breakfast tray on my lap.
'There you are Kates, eat up, it'll make you feel better.'
I smiled at him.
'Thanks Lee.'
Turning in the doorway he winked.
'Anytime Kates, anytime.'
Angelina waited until the last sounds of his clumping footsteps on the staircase faded away and then sprung up, looking at me curiously. 'What's going on with you two?'
I choked on my bacon.
'What!?'
'It all makes perfect sense now,' she continued on, apparently unaware of my gagging and coughing, 'that's why you weren't going to accept Oliver's proposal…'
'But I am going to accept his proposal!' I retorted throatily, my eyes watering.
She studied me, before sighing.
'Does Lee know that?'
'Yes!' I said indignantly, still confused as to where this had all come from, 'He was the first one I told!'
This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.
'You told Lee before you told the rest of us!?' she exclaimed in disbelief.
'And so what if I did?' I bellowed, upsetting my tray and at the end of my tether, 'Why are you acting like this!? You sound as if you're jealous or something!'
'Hello!' she roared back, 'I'm in love with FRED!'
'And I'm in love with OLIVER!' I screamed back automatically, before cutting myself short and panting heavily.
Angelina, breathing hard, stared at me.
'You are?'
'Apparently so...' I panted, looking down at my breakfast-covered lap and groaning.
There was an awkward silence in which we both looked at each other, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand, muttering a spell and making the mush in my lap vanish.
And then, before either of us could say a word, there was almighty thundering on the stairs and Alicia and Ginny came tearing into the room, screaming joyously.
'So, Katie, child-bride friend of mine,' Angelina said with a grin as Ginny and Alicia smothered me with ecstatic hugs, 'whatever shall I wear to your wedding?'
'Anything except your birthday-suit.'
Oliver…
Landing with a thud on the dry Bulgarian earth, I blinked groggily for a moment before emitting a yell as two pairs of hands latched onto a leg each and dragged me into a cave.
'Argh! Geroff me! Geroff me!' I snarled, kicking out and catching someone in the mouth with my boot.
'Argh, shit Oliver!' my injured captor yelled, and I stopped struggling immediately.
Looking up guiltily, I saw Charlie stumble away from me, clutching his mouth, which was dripping blood quite profusely.
'You bloody git!' he grunted, staggering backwards into Fred and George, who sat him down on a rock and took a look at his mouth.
'Sorry Charlie.' I said, getting to my feet and sending an apologetic glance at Bill, who was sighing and rolling his eyes.
'Don't worry about it Oliver, it was an accident,' he said tiredly, massaging his temples gingerly.
Charlie shot me an irritated glare but said nothing.
'Lupin will be here any minute, Charlie, he'll get you fixed up,' said Roger, finishing his tying of a strip of his shirt around his bleeding brow and getting to his feet, stretching.
'I can fix myself up thank you very much,' snapped Charlie in reply, conjuring up a mirror and beginning to heal his torn lip and two cracked teeth.
We sat in grumpy silence for a minute, each tending to his own injuries, before a shadow flickered in the setting sun and we all glanced up to see a willowy figure standing in the entrance to the cave.
I felt my bottom jaw drift downwards and I quickly glanced at Bill to see whether I was only the one suffering this strange lapse of control… I wasn't. The woman standing in front of us was quite likely the most seductive, sensual entity we'd ever seen – topped only perhaps, by Fleur Weasley, Bill's vela wife. But even then, being a man who preferred brunettes, I could definitely beg to differ.
It was only when she'd begun to stride forwards, her long, lithe legs purposeful in their walk, that I remembered that I was in the middle of the war and that she could well be a Death Eater. Drawing my wand shakily, I held it up, nudging Roger at the same time, who seemed to have lost his wits altogether, apparently unable to even remember that he was in fact a wizard, and not a goldfish.
'Who-who're you?' asked Bill, grimacing as he tried to maintain his usual confident tone, 'and what do you want?'
The woman stopped, a small smile drifting across her lovely face.
'Oh, I am so vary sorry; I am not meaning to alarm any-von. I am Tatiana Cestvina, your Bulgarian contact.'
A flicker of recognition skipped across Bill's blue eyes.
'Oh. Right. Lupin said something about you…'
Her smile grew wider.
'Oh yes, Ree-muss, a true gentleman.'
I heard Fred and George snort behind me at her exaggerated pronunciation of "Remus". Biting my tongue, I managed to contain my own laughter, though it was close to escaping when I noticed that Roger still hadn't moved from the position he'd been in when Tatiana had entered the cave: his jaw was still ajar and his eyes seemed like they were ready to pop out of his skull.
'Roger!' I hissed to no avail, winking at the twins who had just noticed his peculiar behaviour and were in silent fits of hysterics about it, 'Roger you bloody git, snap out of it!'
He didn't even move.
Sighing, I started to shuffle towards him, hoping to quietly clip him up the back of the skull to make him regain his senses. Charlie, however, beat me to it. Getting to his feet, he took two steps over and slapped the tall brunette around the face with all the strength he had.
With a startled yelp, Roger blinked groggily, flushing a flaming red when Tatiana glanced at him curiously. Coughing awkwardly, he smiled shyly at her.
'This, um, is Roger,' said Bill with an expression torn between extreme exasperation and amusement, 'and that dolt is Charlie.'
'Vat is a "dolt"?' she asked interestedly, flashing her pearly-whites at Charlie, who scowled at his brother.
'Uh, never mind,' Bill continued hurriedly with a wink at me, 'this here is Oliver, and those two in the corner are Fred and George.'
'Bonjour Cherie,' Fred said with a sweeping bow that was interrupted mid-way by an amused snort from George; snapping back up to full-height, he frowned, 'what?'
'She's Bulgarian, you idiot, not French!' his brother hissed with a snigger.
Tatiana laughed merrily.
'Eet ees vary kind of you anyway.'
'So, um, how can we uh, h-help you?' Roger asked; the grin on his face one he only reserved for when he was looking to score.
She'd only just opened her lovely mouth with a gracious smile at him, when three consecutive cracks resonated through the cave and Lupin, Kingsley and Tonks were standing in front of us. Well, Lupin and Kingsley were anyway, Tonks was sprawled on the ground apologising profusely to Charlie as she'd apparently apparated on his foot.
Not a good day for him so far, I noted.
'Ah,' said Lupin once he'd managed to regain his wits and saw the Bulgarian vision of perfection before him, 'Miss Cestvina, you're here.'
Tatiana, upon hearing her name mentioned, snatched her attention away from Charlie and Tonks, whom she'd been watching intently with traces of amusement on her face, and turned to him, smiling broadly. 'Ah, Ree-muss, how lovely to be seeing you.'
I watched with some interest, as upon hearing her husband being addressed by the Bulgarian woman, Tonks scowled, rolling her eyes in much the same fashion as the twins at Tatiana's exaggerated purr of his name. I was distracted soon after though, by Roger, who nudged me in the ribs, his dark eyebrows raised in that stupid, bloody expression he got whenever he thought he was going to "get some"… an expression that of course, made him look like the git that he was.
'How hot is she, eh?' he hissed, winking at me.
'Way out of your league though, mate,' said someone from behind me, voicing exactly what I'd wanted to say.
'Shut up Weasley,' said Roger, stung, as I turned to see Fred and George smirking behind us, Fred in particular, looking pleased with himself.
'He's got a point though,' I said, knowing I was treading on eggshells but really unable to make myself care, 'I mean, look at her… she's just so…'
'…scary beautiful?' supplied George, grinning as Tonks trumped over to us, her irritated huffs such a stark contrast to the unexplainable grace of Tatiana.
'You think she's beautiful?' she asked, cocking her head to the side as if trying to see it, 'I think she's more Bulgarian-trash, actually.'
'Well someone's not jealous,' said Roger with a grin, never taking his eyes off Tatiana's olive, willowy legs.
'Close your trap, Davies,' said Charlie briskly, striding over to us and standing directly in front of him, 'someone might think you're a goldfish.'
'Too late for that,' remarked Fred, leaning over my right shoulder to push Roger's bottom jaw up with a satisfying snap of teeth against teeth.
While we'd been idly chatting, Lupin, Kingsley, Tatiana and Bill had been deep in conversation, apparently discussing where we were supposed to be stationed. Kingsley, who didn't look too comfortable around Tatiana, wanted to send a couple of scouts to find another more suitable area, but Tatiana was insisting that the cave we were already in was by far the best for us.
Lupin, as usual, was passive, taking both points into consideration carefully and yet unable to decide either way, and Bill was just nodding along, obviously off somewhere else in his head.
'So Oliver, I believe you have some news to share,' said Tonks startling me into directing my attention elsewhere but the adults' discussion, 'Katie opened the gift you left her yesterday.'
The look she had on her face made me slightly uneasy, as though she knew something I didn't, and as Charlie, Roger and the twins waited patiently for me to divulge exactly what on earth she was talking about, I began to feel sick.
What if Katie was going to say 'no'?
'I, um,' not exactly an eloquent start, but the best I had, 'the box, er, I… I proposed to Katie.'
The last part came out in a bit of a hurried rush, but thankfully, I didn't have to say it again.
Grimacing, I frowned slightly as Charlie and Roger gaped at me, astounded.
'What?'
Fred and George, quickly getting over the shock of the news, began to cheer wildly, clapping me on the back in a comradely fashion.
'Congratulations mate!' cried Fred joyfully.
'Simply splendid old boy!' said George, grinning like a maniac.
Roger still hadn't moved, and it wasn't until Tonks threw him a curious look, that Charlie spoke at all, and even then, it wasn't exactly what I'd hope for.
'Uh, what brought that on… you're pulling a whole panicky "war? Oh no, I better get married" stunt on me, are you?'
It was a good question, there was no denying that, but up until now I hadn't really thought about it… perhaps I really had just panicked? After all, that letter was so hurriedly scrawled that I'd hardly had any time to check the spelling… and maybe I should've asked Katie out on a date first before giving her a ring and all…
As I pondered this, the awkward silence around me so thick you could've cut it with a knife, I noticed the look on Tonks' face had suddenly become quite painfully contorted, as if she was bursting to tell me something. And then, suddenly, I realised… Katie was going to say 'no'.
Oliver Tobias Wood, resident idiot.
A/N: lyrics used - "Drive Away, PS I Love You" by the All-American Rejects. title comes from a quote from Sean Biggerstaff's new movie "Cashback", which i sadly have yet to see. have any of you seen it yet?
&&& this chapter is dedicated to Kailey-Hamilton with love, hugs and a huge cyber-cookie &&&
hmm.. so sorry for taking so long to update... i didnt really know where to go with this chapter. speaking of which, its not really the best one ever, i know, but Just-Giddy was being so damn pushy! lol, kidding. i had writer's block and pushed through it, though coming out on the other side with a little less confidence in my work than usual. so hmm.
Ash x