Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. - Omar Khayyam

Distractions

December 1996

Sam moved around in her chair, trying to get comfortable. It was the last quidditch match of the season and even with all the state-of-the-art heating charms and devices in place in the players' box, she was still a bit chilly. From next to her, Alicia cheered as Puddlemere scored again, pulling into the lead.

Sam wished she had the energy to get into the match like Alicia. But there was too much weighing on her mind. Even though the nightmares had started tapering off and she felt stronger after nearly a month of training with Bill, she couldn't shake the heaviness that had settled in. She had taken Bill's advice and stayed at Watsworths, even starting to find the joy in dancing again. But even though there hadn't been any new attacks since the muggle nightclub, talk of the company shutting down had only grown.

The new production had been put on hold until the new year even though they were supposed to premiere during the Christmas holiday. Instead, they had extended the ballet that was still playing, though ticket sales had dropped dramatically.

People were too afraid to go out anywhere that might be a target.

Even Puddlemere's stadium was less full than usual. Sam took her eyes off Oliver for a moment and glanced around the stands, frowning slightly. Wouldn't do if ticket sales kept dropping.

"Would you lighten up? We're at a match. Your first this month," Alicia said, glancing at Sam.

"Tried to make some last month, but thought it more important that I train," Sam said, not taking her eyes off the pitch. "Moved them to the weekends so I could focus more on Watsworths during the week. Bill was right - I was pushing myself too hard."

"Thank, Merlin, she's seen the light," Alicia muttered, causing Sam to frown at her. "Only took a week-long bout with the flu to get through to you."

Sam huffed as she returned her attention back to the pitch.

"I wasn't that bad," she replied. Alicia snorted.

"Your mum had to come over and force-feed you potion because you insisted that you weren't sick," she said, looking over at her friend. "Surprised the coach let Oliver have half-days so he could nurse you back to health."

"I'm not surprised. You see the turnout lately," Sam said with a sigh.

"Yea… all our matches last week were postponed… too many players in reserves going into hiding," Alicia said.

"That bad?" Sam asked, looking over at her again. Alicia nodded.

"First it was just a few here and there. But last couple of weeks, more reserves have had to forfeit matches due to a lack of players. Suppose we're not seeing it in the majors because the league is still trying to put a good face on it," she said.

"We've lost a few dancers as well," Sam said. "Three so far. They're talking about shutting down after 'The Nutcracker' finishes its run."

"Seriously?" Alicia asked, looking at her, eyes wide. Sam nodded, clapping half-heartedly as Oliver made another save.

"Everyone trying to get me to stay at the company and the company is just going to shut down anyway," she said.

"Certainly is a grim Christmas," Alicia said.

"You're telling me," Sam said. "I haven't even started shopping. Probably wouldn't have decorations if it weren't for Oliver."

"He still trying to cheer you up?" Alicia asked, looking over at her. Sam nodded.

"Bless him for trying," she said.

"You still haven't talked to him, have you?" Alicia asked. Sam shook her head.

"The nightmares have gotten better, so I just don't want to bring it up," she said. "Not while things are getting better."

"At least you've stopped snipping at him so much," Alicia replied, though she was surprised that Sam had said this much. It was the most she had spoken about what was going on in her head since Halloween. And she still hadn't mentioned what was in her nightmares, though they all had pretty good guesses.

"After he nursed me that week I was sick, I realized I was being a git. I still can't seem to talk to him, but at least I can treat him a bit better than I have been," Sam said. "He's gone out of his way to be understanding and sweet the past month."

"Honestly, Sam Abbott. Some days I wonder if you realize just how good you have it. Oliver has been your best friend since birth. And he's the bloody best boyfriend I've ever heard of. Not to mention fit," Alicia said. Sam looked over at her and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yes, I know. You can stop now. Sure Oliver's head is growing from all the way over there," she said.

"Seriously, though. He's trying. You could try more too," she said. Sam nodded.

"I know. I will," she replied.

"And bloody cheer up. We're at the last match of the year. Puddlemere is set to make it to the postseason if they keep up the momentum. And there's a bloody party to go to afterwards," Alicia pushed. "At least try and have some fun."

"Got it, captain," Sam said, smirking at her best friend.

Sam smiled as she stood in her and Oliver's flat later that night, the after party in full swing after Puddlemere won by 100 points against the Kestrals. The entire team seemed in high spirits with Benjy leading them all in a round of shots as soon as they arrived and then plying them with more afterwards. Oliver's cheeks were starting to turn a hint of rosy.

"From the look of this place, you wouldn't think we were at war," Lucy said, walking up to Sam's side. Sam nodded.

"It's nice," she said before taking a sip. "We all deserve a night to have fun and forget about things."

"Amen to that," Lucy declared, clinking her cup against Sam's.

"Where's Lauren? Thought she was coming with you," Sam said, looking around the flat.

"Poor girl wasn't into it. Course, she's never been the sort for loud parties. But she's been more worried lately… with Flint off in hiding," Lucy said casually. Sam looked over at her, eyebrows raised.

"So, there is something there," she said. Lucy shrugged.

"They met up a couple times before he had to run. Not sure if it was anything serious, but she's certainly worried about him," Lucy said. "Could be that tender heart of hers…"

"Not the only one," Sam said, looking over to see Warrington now talking to Adrian. Both seemed a bit on the tense side. "I've been over to check the protective charms a few times since he had to run."

"Anyone heard from him?" Lucy asked. Sam shook her head.

"Felt it best that no one have any communication in case our owls and such are being intercepted," she said. "Only ones who know where he is are Adrian and Cassius."

"Surprised no one's come for them yet, then," Lucy said, her eyes wide.

"We all are," Sam said with a sigh.

"Alright, that's it. No more talk of danger or going into hiding. This is a bloody party and I did not pull out my new dress for you to depress me," Lucy said. "I'm going to get us shots." She then strode off purposely, her red heels clicking against the wood floor, leaving a chuckling Sam behind. She glanced over at Adrian and Warrington again, deciding to go talk to them.

"Checked in with him last week," she heard Adrian say as she neared them. Sam stopped, not sure she wanted to interrupt as she glanced around. No one else was nearby and neither seemed to see her approaching.

"How's he doing?" Cassius asked.

"He's fine. Changed the pattern. It's 6-4-5-3 now," Adrian said softly.

"Still in the same place?" Cassius asked.

"Mm-hmm. There's no way his father or his minions will think to look there. He won't move unless one of us is caught," Adrian said. For a moment, Sam felt a bit guilty - she had overheard something she wasn't supposed to. But at the same time, they didn't say the location of the safe house, so at least that information was safe.

She moved closer and cleared her throat.

"How you two doing?" she said loudly, announcing her presence to them. Warrington jumped slightly while Adrian looked over at her and smiled.

"Good. How's Watsworths? Moira said the production was still on hold," he replied. Sam nodded.

"They said until the New Year, but some of us worry it could be longer," she said. "Hoping it won't be. I'm dying to get back on stage."

Warrington lifted his cup, motioning that he needed another drink. Adrian shook his head and Warrington walked off.

"How's he holding up?" Sam asked, her brow furrowed.

"As good as he can," Adrian said with a sigh. "The stress is getting a bit much. He's thinking about running soon." Sam frowned.

"Really?" she asked. Adrian nodded.

"We all will eventually," he replied.

"Seriously? Not you too, Adrian," Lucy scolded as she walked up holding shot glasses. Sam smiled as she took one. "We're supposed to be having fun!"

Adrian rolled his eyes as he took another of the glasses and Lucy held hers up.

"To having a good time," Lucy said as they clinked their glasses together and then drank the shots. Sam winced slightly as it went down.

"What the bloody hell is that?" she asked, gagging slightly.

"Some muggle liquor that Benjy brought," Lucy said. "I thought it tasty." She then took the empty glasses and walked off again.

"I better hide before she gets back. Do not want more of that," Sam said. Adrian chuckled.

"You're looking better," he said softly. Sam smiled at him.

"Feeling better. Though just a bit," she said, looking over and finding Oliver. He grinned and motioned her over. "Better go see what he wants."

She then left Adrian, seeing Moira walk up to him with more drinks as she walked up to Oliver, who was standing with Benjy, Alicia, Lionel and two other members of Puddlemere - Niall Greene and Ian Wicksworth.

"There's my girl," Oliver said loudly, obviously a few drinks ahead of Sam.

"Brilliant match," Sam said, looking at the others.

"Let's hope it wasn't our last one," Ian said.

"As far as I've heard, they're still going on with the rest of the season," Benjy said, frowning at the chaser.

"Yea, but for how long?" Ian asked. "Even me mum and dad have already left the country. Gone off to America where my aunt lives."

"Seems this party could use some cheering up!" George said brightly as he and Fred walked up to the group.

"No. No. Absolutely not," Sam said, immediately frowning. "I remember what you did at the dinner party."

"Relax, Sam. We just meant with our presence. We're not going to slip anything to anyone," Fred said. "We learned from last time. Once you got your voice back you gave us tails."

"It was humorous," Benjy said, grinning as he looked at the twins.

"Say, you're the two blokes with that joke shop, aren't you?" Niall said. "Been meaning to stop by."

"Come anytime! We're open for business!" George said brightly. "Seems even a war can't slow us down. Though we've started a new line of defensive products."

"Figured we'd cash in on it," Fred added. "Still waiting on Sam to stop by…"

"I'll come by when I have time," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been rather busy lately."

"Right, right," George said.

"Spoke to Bill the other day, seems he's been seeing you a lot lately," Fred asked.

"Been helping me out with something," she said, glancing at the others who were staring at her curiously.

"Defensive magic," Oliver said. "With the times and all." The others nodded, their thoughts temporarily turning dark.

"Well, no matter, suspect you heard the happy news, then," Fred said, grinning. "We're getting a new sister."

"Bill and Fleur are tying the knot?" Alicia asked, her eyes wide. The twins grinned. "That's fantastic!"

"Wedding is at the end of summer. Before terms starts so the rest of the Hogwarts kiddies can be there," George said.

"That such a good idea?" Ian asked.

"Don't see why not," Fred said.

"Speaking of wedding bells, when we going to hear them for you two?" Benjy asked, looking at Sam and Oliver. Sam had just taken a drink and nearly spit it out on Alicia as Oliver just grinned.

"Haven't really talked about it," Sam managed to choke out as Oliver chuckled.

"Suspect it won't be much longer," he replied, looking down at her. Alicia's eyes widened as she watched Sam glance up at him, her cheeks going red.

"Again, we've not talked about it," Sam said, looking over at Benjy as the twins started grinning.

"And then soon after, we'll hear the pitter patter of tiny feet," George said.

"Think they'll look more like Sam or Oliver?" Fred asked.

"Dunno, but I've got a few galleons on at least four," George replied.

"George! Fred!" Sam shouted, her face getting even redder.

"What? You've known about this," Fred said. "We've been betting on you two since Hogwarts."

"And winning, I might add," George said.

"I think it's highly inappropriate that you're betting on our love life!" Sam shouted, glancing nervously at Oliver.

"My, how the tables have turned," Alicia murmured.

"Come again?" Benjy asked softly as the twins continued to goad Sam and Oliver just stood there smiling.

"Usually it's Oliver that gets all blustery when marriage comes up," she replied.

"He was asking about a good place to get rings the other day in practice," he said so that only Alicia heard. She looked up at him, surprised.

"Seriously, now?" she asked. Benjy nodded.

"Suppose the war has us all thinking about things like that," he said, his voice a bit wistful.

"Do not tell me that you've been thinking about getting married," Alicia said, the color starting to drain from her face a bit. Benjy chuckled as he looked down at her.

"Don't look too excited," he replied. "And no… not necessarily. We've only been dating a few months, Alicia."

"I know," she replied looking away. Benjy chuckled again.

"But that one… he definitely looks like he's got weddings on the brain," he said, pointing across the room. Alicia followed his direction and saw Ellie and Finn dancing slowly on the other side of the room. She snorted.

"He's been thinking weddings since he met her," she said. "But they are rather cute together."

"Hufflepuffs, man," he said, shaking his head. "Hufflepuffs…"

Sam sighed as she crawled into bed that night. She and Oliver had just finished up the last of the cleaning and he was still in the shower, singing loudly and off-key. A chuckle escaped her mouth as she looked over towards the slightly open bathroom door. She had wanted one as well before bed, but her exhaustion was getting the better of her so she had changed into her pajamas instead.

"Sam! Could you come here a minute!" Oliver shouted. Sighing, Sam threw the covers off and padded across the room to the bathroom, popping her head in.

"What is it?" she asked. Oliver opened the curtain and looked out, grinning.

"Thought you might want to jump in on this. I know you wanted one too," he said. Sam rolled her eyes.

"I can wait until morning," she said, starting to step back into the room.

"Sammie," Oliver whined.

"Good grief, Oliver… you're a grown man," she replied, though there was a smile on her face. Oliver started pouting, making puppy dog eyes. With his wet hair falling into his face and a few globs of soap slowly falling down his cheek, she couldn't help but laugh. "You hardly look sexy like that."

"Oh, I can do sexy," he replied, replacing the pout with what would normally be a smoldering stare that he saved for pictures. But again, in the context of the shower, it looked more comical than come hither.

"Still not working," Sam said, giggling.

"Well, then. Plan B," Oliver said, throwing the curtain open and stepping out of the tub.

"Oliver!" Sam shrieked as he picked her up and started walking back towards the shower. "At least let me get out of my clothes!" He sat her down just before he was about to step over the bathtub ledge and looked down at her. "You know there are easier ways to get me into the shower with you." She started pulling off her top, smirking up at him.

"Well, the others didn't work," he said. "I asked nicely and tried to woo you in." Sam chuckled, reaching up to brush a bit of wet hair from his eyes.

"I love you, Oliver. You know that, right?" she said.

"Of course. I love you, too," he replied.

"I'm sorry I've been so distance… and about the marriage thing earlier," she said, suddenly feeling incredibly vulnerable in front of him, despite the fact that Oliver was the one standing completely naked. "I just… It's not been easy… since…"

"I know," he said. "I don't want to push you…"

"I appreciate it," she said softly, smiling at him. "I'm not ready to… get into the details, but I want you to know that when I ready to talk about it… I'll come to you."

Oliver put his forehead against hers.

"I'll always be here for you, Sammie. Always have been… always will be," he said. She nodded. "And we don't have to talk about marriage right now… we have plenty of time for that."

"Thanks," she replied. She then giggled softly.

"What?"

"You're getting soap in my eyes," she said, stepping back and rubbing her cheeks. Oliver smiled and kissed her.

"We're also wasting water," he replied. Sam smiled as she slid out of her pajama bottoms and knickers, then stepped over to the shower.

"Best not waste anymore," she replied with a smirk.

"Merlin, how did I get so lucky," he murmured before stepping in after her.

Sorry for going MIA! I had a lot of work projects come in (thank god!) and then I got started on another story - and truth be told, I needed a break from this one. But I've decided that I'm not starting any new stories until I finish the ones I've already got going. And I've gotten this one close to finished. Everything is plotted out - just need to write it down and edit.

And those of you who followed the Wood Series will be happy to hear that I've got a couple niggles of ideas for one shots for that universe... but not until I finish this one...

.2019 - Thanks!

Camryn Kissel - Thanks! And it is a good thing he's got Cassius.

Thanks everyone for sticking with this!