Disclaimer: the characters belong to J.K.Rowling
Chapter XI - Theories and Obstacles
The next morning, Oliver knocked at her door.
"Hello, you!" she said, sleepy.
"'morning. I tried to catch you before classes. Here! I got some books for you" he handed her some ragged old papers.
"Thanks. Do you have time for a cup of coffee?" she took them and hid a yawn.
"Yes. Thank you. I thought you wanted to get to school"
"Plenty of time. So, you've decided to show me you're trust worthy?"
Her smile showed him this wasn't meant as an insult. He gave her the sweet, awkward, crooked smile that made her feel her knees weak.
"Something like that. Am I doing it right?"
"Close enough" she smiled back.
A warm feeling was growing inside Hermione, something else than the usual sharp desire. She was falling for his legendary charm.
"There is almost a month until the valley will be available for studies… I think I should work on a new approach about the Osiris documents…"
"Can I help you?"
"I was getting to that. From what I noticed, the Egyptians have a habit to hide things in plain site, but they wrap the in a high concentration of magic. So, if I visit a site, I'd really appreciate your company. We could keep an eye on each other"
*Is she putting me in the situation of losing control AGAIN? Like that's not difficult enough to do having all my senses!*
She saw his reluctance, but went on. This was a way to get over his guilt and over her desire. As most plans, it was good enough in theory.
"You're the only one I can trust with this, right?"
He had to concede the point. He had been the one hammering her about not trusting people outside the organisation and he wasn't comfortable going to his boss to tell him to send someone else to finish the job for him.
"Yeah. Well, do you have any leads?"
"Not yet. But I'm confident that I'll come up with something. Sorry to provide the caffeine and run, but I have classes"
"It's okay. I have some work as well"
"Oliver" she stopped him disapparating. "Thanks. For everything"
"Not at all" he smiled awkwardly again while vanishing.
~~~~~ About two weeks later
"By Jove, I think I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed around midnight. "Oliver!" she cried out.
Her voice echoed from the walls of the empty apartment. This mirrored the void inside her. She was missing her friends, bit she was too proud, too grown up to admit it. This was the kind of thing that would make her run to the Gryffindor Common Room to find Ron and Harry asleep over an unfinished game of wizards' chess.
She reached for the parchment, but her hand stopped in mid air. She wasn't one to write sentimental stuff, like "I miss you guys so much!!!!". Nobody expected something like that from her.
Instead, she decided to test the floo powder network. She lit a small fire in the decorative fireplace, threw the powder and as soon as it turned emerald green, she stepped in and uttered clearly: "Oliver Wood's flat"
~~~~
Oliver heard the movement in the fireplace. He let down the wand when he saw Hermione's image.
"Come in" he invited her.
She walked gracefully out of the green flames, the way she did in so many of his fantasies. But he was strong enough not to show it.
"A cup of tea?" he played on his role of host.
"Yeah, thanks. Listen to what I've got!"
He was watching her, sparkling with enthusiasm. She had the same "Oh, I know! I know! Pick me! Pick me!" attitude that drove Snape crazy. Oliver was watching her with mixed feelings. Again. He was never completely sure how he felt about her. He was obsessed with her body, days at a time thinking of nothing else than tearing her clothes off and making love to her until they were both exhausted and all of a sudden, he'd get concerned over how was she coping with the African climate or working nights in a row. His impromptu, after hours visits to her room made them get used to each other in a very intimate, but platonic way.
Hermione was half way through the explanation of her discovery when she realised it was rather late.
"You weren't asleep, were you?"
"No. It's just ten here. But you were up late I see. Cairo is GMT + 2. You do have school tomorrow"
"Papa, don't preach!" she wasted a Muggle quotation on him. "I did it for a higher purpose. As I was saying" she took no notice of his protests. "I was going through this silly old paper and all of a sudden it hits me. If they considered it so dangerous, why not just destroy it? Let's admit the religious reasons, they were afraid that the Gods might punish them. But how did they make certain that the document will not be destroyed over the years?"
Hermione shifted her undivided attention to the tea. She was analysing the flavour with her eyes closed, letting Oliver get more curious by the second. They'd been through these games before.
"Enjoying the tea, are you?" he didn't let her win this time.
"They can't afford to keep it in a temple or something, trusting that the next generations will be as wise as them. So what do they do? They can't leave it in the wilderness, they hide it close to a human settlement. This Greek who travelled through Egypt during Cleopatra's reign and he mentions a strong opposition of the Med-jai to the proposed abandonment of a city infected with some plague. They actually get out of their self-imposed seclusion and help heal the Muggles"
"What city?"
"Bûr Sa'id. Port Said"
"Do you have a plan?"
"No" she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "But it's a whole new angle. Besides, I need your blessing"
"For?" he asked, worried.
"I'd like to talk to Madeleine. She knows a lot of myths and other stuff like that" Hermione tried to sell him the idea, without telling him all the truth. "I shan't tell her anything. I'll just ask the questions. Promise"
"All right"
"Oh, come on! I need all the help I can get with this. You agreed?"
"Yes. Well, she helped us the last time"
"You're very fair minded about this" she said, suspiciously.
"I trust your judgement" came his honest reply.
"You're very kind" she felt the prick of the old he-just-likes-me-for-my-mind feeling. "I have to go now. See you when I get somewhere with this theory"
"Take care"
But, before he could say it, she disapparated.
~~~~~ A week later
Talking to Madeleine proved unfruitful. Her friend was too much in the habit of covering up things to reveal such information. She did get the feeling that she was right about this.
She wanted to write to Oliver, but their relationship went beyond "Dear Mr. Wood" and not quite to "Dear Oliver". So she went on day dreaming about him. Maybe she shouldn't have been so damn ethical about things in the Garden.
Oliver stuck his head through the door.
"You have an anti-apparition barrier, but you don't lock your door! Where's the logic in that?"
"Just slipped my mind" she said, not so absent-minded as she tried to appear.
"You didn't any signs of life lately. Are you all right?"
She sighed.
"I'm getting nowhere with this. I can feel I'm right, but I didn't find out anything new. It's full of dead ends"
"Don't tell me! That's the sign of a cover up"
"I'm not paranoid. But documents I look up in the Library disappear, people I talk to seem to get amnesia after two questions… Besides, in a couple of days will be the time window for the valley, so I'll have no time at all"
"What do you mean books disappear?"
"They are misplaced, or borrowed, or plain lost"
"Are you up to a trip to Port Said? Just to get the feel of the place"
"Why, Mr. Wood, you're a believer!"
"All it took was a good influence. I read about that city. The magical community has always had a strong presence there. Unlike anywhere else in Egypt. Apparently they took a vow never to abandon that place. So, maybe there is something to your idea"
"It's odd that they didn't find anything all this while. They should have stumbled on the protective spell in so many centuries"
"What if there are no spells? You left your door unlocked, haven't you?"
"Wouldn't that be something! The papers laying in some old Muggle library with ancient cooking recipes. Let's go!"
~~~~~ Port Said
"You think we should look for the public library?"
"Didn't you say we're here just to get the feel of the place? I'm in no state to do serious research now"
"Are you feeling ill?" he inquired, concerned.
"No. But I'll have to do this sort of things for two days in the valley and I need to get some sleep"
"Fifteen minutes then"
"Tea, please"
They found a delicious place with a terrace. The past month spent together made the atmosphere a lot friendlier. The tension between them had eased to an agreeable level, both having learned to cope with the attraction. Hermione was acting almost the same way she did when she first looked at Harry differently. She was trying to turn a possible romance into a warm friendship. But she had never felt for Harry anything as intense as the lust she felt for Oliver.
What Oliver regretted the most about this new feel of camaraderie towards Hermione was that he didn't get to hold her hand anymore. She got used to apparating at his place or at the Morgana and no longer needed his guidance. To his surprise, she seemed to pick up on this thought.
"Would you come to the site with me?"
"What did I do? Whatever it is, I'm sorry!" he joked. "No, seriously, why would you want me to come?"
"I'd like to know if your powers would increase upon exposure to the site. I'd like to figure a way to control this influence. It's the smart thing to do. But if you don't want to…."
"Snape spent 10 days ion the site. He came for 5 months and it nearly killed him. This happened about five years ago. You must remember, it was during that time that he was at his worst. Your friends endured a lot because of it. You wouldn't like me to turn into something like that now would you?"
"So it did increase certain traits of his character?"
"Is that what you heard from all I told you?" he pouted a little.
"Let me finish! That means you'll only get nicer" *Did I just say that?*
"Thanks. You could smooth talk a guy in doing… anything" *Did I just say that?* "OK. I'll be at your place at the crack of dawns"
"You're sure about that? I don't want to force you!"
"You cannot force me! I'm gonna be fine. I can be just as pig headed as Snape if I want to"
~~~~ Daybreak, in the valley of Men-Nefer
"Hi, Hermione! Oh, look who showed up for a visit! Are you punished for something?" Mena Kalef teased him.
"Hello, Mena. Hermione wants to test a theory on me"
"Power is nothing without control" Hermione recited a commercial, for Mena's amusement. "Did you get any ideas what to do next?"
"Not really. But you're right, we have to learn to control this place"
"Maybe we should call professor Snape. He has already been through this once"
Oliver was getting dizzy. He felt Hermione's arm sneaking beneath his, supporting him. Her soothing touch made him bear the fog that was falling on his brain, numbing him. The loss of perspective scared him a little. He let her guide him through the blur.
Half an hour later, he got used to the chronic nausea. The girls were still fussing over him, but not as concerned as he wished them to. They were performing all kinds of tests on him, getting blood samples and examining his reflexes.
Time elapsed swiftly for Oliver. The forty-eight hours seemed a long painful haze.
~~~~~
Hermione dragged him into her bed. She had apparated with the semi-conscious Oliver in her apartment and had no energy left to send him to his place. It was more prudent to have him on close supervision anyway. He had taken the experience pretty bad. She went in and out of the shower as fast as her exhaustion allowed.
Oliver was fast asleep in her bed and this time it wasn't a fantasy. She was too worn out to be in a fantasy. Looking at him, Hermione's heart was warming up to him again. He had earned her trust and affection in the last month, but his behaviour the past two days had earned her respect. She had asked him several times if he wanted to leave, but he had refused.
As much as she wanted to lie down beside him, Hermione's sense of proper won. She curled on the uncomfortable couch. An hour later, Oliver woke up form his restless sleep and his sense of proper made him carry Hermione in his arms and put her in bed, overcoming the same desire to stay next to her.
~~~~~
Sorry I didn't get around to the obstacles as yet. They deserve a little peace and quiet, don't they?
Thank you for the reviews, all you nice people! The story goes on in my head, but I need to know that someone reads it to actually write it. Thanks for the support.