Chapter Eleven... 'Those Three Little Words'

Sarah, Ron and Harry all walked back to Hermione's house with her. They arrived and Hermione let out a relieved sigh as they opened the door to find that everything was still perfectly in place. Hermione quickly dumped all of her belongings in her bedroom and closed the door on her way out.

"Well, that was certainly an adventure wasn't it?" said Harry, helping himself to a glass of lemonade from the silver fridge.

"Yep," agreed Ron though he didn't really look like he was paying much attention. He too busy watching Sarah who was merely flicking through one of Hermione's muggle magazines, truly fascinated by a picture of a muggle popstar.

"Glad to be home?" she asked, gratefully taking the drink Harry handed her.

They all replied a 'yes' in unison. Seemed they much preferred the less hectic life.

They finished their drinks and Ron and Harry thought they better make a move on. After saying a few cheery goodbyes and 'we'll see you soon' they left Hermione's house.

Sarah sat there in silence for a second sort of debating something in her own head. After she appeared to have come to a conclusion she raced out the door closely followed by Hermione who wanted to know what was going on.

"Ron!" Sarah was shouting, as she caught up to the two boys who hadn't got very far at all.

"What?" he turned around surprised to see the two girls. "Oh hullo again Sarah... fancy seeing you here!"

"Ron... Ron... I really like you. Do you want to go out?" Sarah burst out, surprising herself at her own words more than anyone else there.

Ron looked completely baffled and gobsmacked. "Whoah..." he said. "Yeah sure, of course!" he gave her an awkward hug before they agreed upon a time and place. Harry and Hermione stood back and smiled at the pair. Hermione was happy for a number of reasons.

First of all, Ron had really liked Sarah for ages (that one was obvious) and he really deserved a kind girlfriend. Secondly, it meant Sarah trusted herself enough to date somebody. Ron was a good enough kind of bloke to be able to deal with the pregnancy thing though it was up to Sarah to decide what she was going to do about it. She had time on her side though and once she'd sat down and had a good think, she'd be able to make some decisions. Finally Hermione was happy for herself. As much as she didn't want to just think of herself all the time, she couldn't help but know deep inside that more was instore for her and Oliver than just friendship. She decided there and then on the spot that as soon as Sarah had left her house that she'd glapparate to the hospital to see Oliver. And that's exactly what she did.

* * * * *

"Hermione!" said Oliver who hadn't expected to see her here so soon after their goodbye.

"Hey Oliver," she said happily. "I just wanted to see you again."

"And to tell me that Sarah and Ron were going out?" Oliver guessed with a smile.

Hermione nodded. "She told you already?"

"I got an owl a few minutes ago. I'm glad Sarah's happy. She's a great girl. She deserves it and Ron is a wonderful guy."

"Yes that's exactly what I was thinking."

There was a knock on the door. Oliver's room was rather like a busy train station. Doctor Shirlington entered carrying a white clipboard, a solemn expression on his face. His expression changed the entire mood of the room into something somewhat more serious.

"Oliver, we have some results from your tests," he began and then realised Hermione was also present. "Uhh, would you mind leaving the room for a moment?" he asked.

Oliver shook his head. "No Hermione can stay. I'd like her to hear the news with me."

"Very well," proceeded the doctor, looking down at his notes. "It appears the spinal damage you had is indeed clearing up, which means that yes, you will be getting better and pretty soon too. The calculations and amounts of body fluids and cleansers we found are above average which comes from your high fitness levels."

"What does all of this mean?" Oliver asked.

"It means, that by this time next month you will be back to playing Quidditch Oliver!"

Oliver had never felt so elated in his life. The entire pressure he had had for the last couple of weeks was suddenly released like a great weight off his shoulders. Things were certainly looking better for him and Hermione. The thought of playing Quidditch again and flying up into the sky on a broomstick brought more joy to his life than anything ever had in his entire life time. He'd noticed the strange tingling sensations in his legs in the last two days yes, but not wanting to get his hopes up, he'd ignored them. But with this news he knew it wouldn't be long. It wouldn't be long until he could walk along a moonlit beach with Hermione, wrap her up in his arms and tell her.

"Oh Oliver!" Hermione gave him a huge hug. "I'm so happy!" Tears of ecstacy ran down her pink cheeks.

Doctor Shirlington left the two alone and walked out of the room. This was what made his job worth doing. The satisfaction of helping somebody or in this case, two somebodys.

"Hermione, Hermione," said Oliver after they'd let go of the hug. "Hermione, I love you."

Hermione wrapped her arms tightly around him. "Oliver Wood, I've loved you since I could possibly remember."

So this was what they called 'bliss'. As they kissed each other passionately, melting into one another the way they'd both wanted for so long, Hermione realised she'd never have to look for love ever again.

Author's Note: Short chapter yes, sorry about that. There's still one more so don't stop reading yet. I hope it didn't all fall into place too easily and quickly- I didn't want to make this story too long which is why I decided 12 chapters was a good length (and you gotta admit they're long chapters). Anyway, it's about time they kissed don't you agree? I would have created more drama but to tell you the truth, I didn't want this to turn into a soap-opera either with endless chaos... Sarah and Ron, Hermione and Oliver... we're all good!