PAST FORGOTTEN
FOUR
[as the sirens call the sailors]
damn the passion, damn the sighs
damn the light that's in her eyes
i know too well where it has led before
she saves me but i can't be saved
frees me but i'm still enslaved
no i battle what i most adore
oh, let me sail away, get lost at sea
let me lose myself where i am blind and free
for as the sirens call the sailors
she calls to me
[sirens -- "jane eyre"]
Oliver reached over and tipped her chin up gently. "Don't be."
She saw him move towards her, felt his hand move up from her chin to lightly stroke her hair, her cheek, his thumb brushing along the line of her cheekbone. Hermione felt a sudden flush of warmth, a rush of blood spreading quickly upwards, from her neck to her face, and recoiled.
"What?" Oliver's face fell. "What is it?"
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say. "I -- you -- me -- this won't work." Hermione shook her head, trying to clear it. "Look, Ol', I like you a lot, and you're a great friend, but I just don't . . . "
He drew back, slightly offended. "Don't what? Am I not good enough for you? Am I not smart enough, not good-looking enough, not . . . "
She gently placed her hand on Oliver's in an attempt to silence him. "It's not that." She drew a deep breath. "I'm just not . . . I'm not ready for a relationship right now."
Cue awkward silence.
After a moment, Oliver spoke. "Hermione, I -- " He bit his lip nervously. "Why?"
"Because I don't know you well enough -- "
"But you and Percy -- "
"No." She shook her head again. "No, Percy and I are -- were -- different. I visited the Burrow on my summers, did you know that?"
"But -- "
"And," Hermione continued, "when Ron and Harry went off on one of their adventures, no-girls-allowed, or when they were acting immature, or when I needed help on holiday work, I'd go to Percy and we talked and, Oliver, we were friends. We were good friends for the longest time before anything even happened. And still it didn't work out." She was babbling now, and she knew it, and her bottom lip was trembling and, what was more, her eyes were beginning to burn like they did before she cried. "And I don't want to risk anything like that again. I don't want either of us to get hurt."
Oliver's jaw dropped, and he sat speechless for a moment before standing abruptly and hurrying out the door.
"Oliver, I -- " she called after him. But he had run round the corner and Disapparated before she had the chance to explain further.
Helplessly, Hermione sank into a chair, laid her head on her hands and began to cry.
* * *
One, two, three.
Hermione Granger waited patiently.
Five, six, seven.
"Oliver-Wood-if-you're-there-pick-up," she said into the reciever, somewhat edgily.
Twelve, thirteen, fourteen.
"OLIVER GODDAMMIT PICK UP THE BLOODY TELEPHONE!"
The telephone had rung sixteen more times before Hermione threw it back onto its cradle. Frustrated, she stood up and paced back and forth, muttering obscenities to herself for ruining what could have been a meaningful relationship.
"If you keep pacing like that you'll wear out the floor," a voice from the corner intoned.
Hermione shrieked and, losing her balance, tumbled to the ground in a heap. Two feet arrived in her line of sight almost immediately, and a hand reached down, offering to help her up.
A hand attached to an arm attached to a torso attached to a head belonging to --
"Percy Weasley?"
The red-haired young man smiled obligingly, gently pulling her to her feet. "I would've rung you before I came over, but your telephone line was busy every time I tried, and you don't have a fireplace, and I figured since there was no Apparition barrier in your building . . . "
She had, by this point, regained the capacity of speech. "You startled me a bit, is all."
Percy shrugged, giving her that lopsided grin that was entirely his. "That's the downside to Apparition, I suppose -- You can't knock."
Seeing the familiar face of someone she trusted so completely caused Hermione to be overcome by emotion, and she grabbed him in a sudden, desperate hug, tears stinging her eyes. "It's so good to see you again."
FOUR
[as the sirens call the sailors]
damn the passion, damn the sighs
damn the light that's in her eyes
i know too well where it has led before
she saves me but i can't be saved
frees me but i'm still enslaved
no i battle what i most adore
oh, let me sail away, get lost at sea
let me lose myself where i am blind and free
for as the sirens call the sailors
she calls to me
[sirens -- "jane eyre"]
Oliver reached over and tipped her chin up gently. "Don't be."
She saw him move towards her, felt his hand move up from her chin to lightly stroke her hair, her cheek, his thumb brushing along the line of her cheekbone. Hermione felt a sudden flush of warmth, a rush of blood spreading quickly upwards, from her neck to her face, and recoiled.
"What?" Oliver's face fell. "What is it?"
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say. "I -- you -- me -- this won't work." Hermione shook her head, trying to clear it. "Look, Ol', I like you a lot, and you're a great friend, but I just don't . . . "
He drew back, slightly offended. "Don't what? Am I not good enough for you? Am I not smart enough, not good-looking enough, not . . . "
She gently placed her hand on Oliver's in an attempt to silence him. "It's not that." She drew a deep breath. "I'm just not . . . I'm not ready for a relationship right now."
Cue awkward silence.
After a moment, Oliver spoke. "Hermione, I -- " He bit his lip nervously. "Why?"
"Because I don't know you well enough -- "
"But you and Percy -- "
"No." She shook her head again. "No, Percy and I are -- were -- different. I visited the Burrow on my summers, did you know that?"
"But -- "
"And," Hermione continued, "when Ron and Harry went off on one of their adventures, no-girls-allowed, or when they were acting immature, or when I needed help on holiday work, I'd go to Percy and we talked and, Oliver, we were friends. We were good friends for the longest time before anything even happened. And still it didn't work out." She was babbling now, and she knew it, and her bottom lip was trembling and, what was more, her eyes were beginning to burn like they did before she cried. "And I don't want to risk anything like that again. I don't want either of us to get hurt."
Oliver's jaw dropped, and he sat speechless for a moment before standing abruptly and hurrying out the door.
"Oliver, I -- " she called after him. But he had run round the corner and Disapparated before she had the chance to explain further.
Helplessly, Hermione sank into a chair, laid her head on her hands and began to cry.
* * *
One, two, three.
Hermione Granger waited patiently.
Five, six, seven.
"Oliver-Wood-if-you're-there-pick-up," she said into the reciever, somewhat edgily.
Twelve, thirteen, fourteen.
"OLIVER GODDAMMIT PICK UP THE BLOODY TELEPHONE!"
The telephone had rung sixteen more times before Hermione threw it back onto its cradle. Frustrated, she stood up and paced back and forth, muttering obscenities to herself for ruining what could have been a meaningful relationship.
"If you keep pacing like that you'll wear out the floor," a voice from the corner intoned.
Hermione shrieked and, losing her balance, tumbled to the ground in a heap. Two feet arrived in her line of sight almost immediately, and a hand reached down, offering to help her up.
A hand attached to an arm attached to a torso attached to a head belonging to --
"Percy Weasley?"
The red-haired young man smiled obligingly, gently pulling her to her feet. "I would've rung you before I came over, but your telephone line was busy every time I tried, and you don't have a fireplace, and I figured since there was no Apparition barrier in your building . . . "
She had, by this point, regained the capacity of speech. "You startled me a bit, is all."
Percy shrugged, giving her that lopsided grin that was entirely his. "That's the downside to Apparition, I suppose -- You can't knock."
Seeing the familiar face of someone she trusted so completely caused Hermione to be overcome by emotion, and she grabbed him in a sudden, desperate hug, tears stinging her eyes. "It's so good to see you again."