Hermione wanted desperately to say 'yes,' but the 'what ifs' were raging through her head. What if he doesn't like me and I make a fool of myself?  What if he does like me?  What if I say yes and then I'm a horrible girlfriend?  What if he's a horrible boyfriend?  What if I say 'yes' and we just stand in silence for an uncomfortably long period of time?  What if I seriously screw up whatever semblance of a friendship I have with him?  What if -?

            She could have smacked herself.  Her sometimes way-too-smart brain would not shut up.  Let me live! she yelled in her mind.

            She looked up at Oliver again, somehow managing to keep from shaking with nervousness. "I don't know," slipped out before she could stop it.  Before Oliver could say anything she cut in. "Oliver, I know you wanted a better answer, and I have a better answer, I swear, but I just don't know what to say."

            He moved away from her slowly, almost reluctantly. "Maybe I should just come back when you have an answer."

            He hadn't meant to sound so cold, but he desperately wanted to have a decision that wasn't his to make.  He was tired of having to make all of the decisions in his life.  As Quidditch captain, he had to think of the strategies that were supposed to be used in the games that were played.  For once, he wanted the final word to rest on someone else.

            "Oliver – " Hermione started painfully.  Then she sighed, heavily, and he knew she was thinking hard of what to say.  This was something serious for her and she treated it as if it were a pop test in one of her classes.

            "Um…" she went on, trying to keep talking without giving an answer to his ultimatum. "God, this is uncomfortable," she muttered to herself.  She wanted to do one of two things at that moment: a) run away screaming to go hide somewhere or b) say yes and hopefully be happy.

            "Um…yes?" it came out as a question, a confused hope-laden question to Hermione's ears. 

            "Good," was the only thing Oliver could think of to say.

            "Good?" Hermione echoed, her head clearing now that she had gotten rid of about half of the what-ifs. "Is that all you can say?"

            Oliver grinned. "What else should I say?"

            She shrugged, relieved that he had not run away screaming to go hide somewhere. "Yes or no, Oliver," she said, aware of the slightly mocking lilt in her tone.

            "What do you think?" he asked in reply.

            "I'm thinking that I want to hear it from you," she said, "Not from a guess in my own head."

            Oliver was a little taken aback by the forcefulness in her voice.  He had known Hermione to be both smart and a strict rule-follower who was willing to give anyone an earful if they stepped out of line, but at the same time, she had always been – for the most part, quiet.

            He paused, letting a hint of a smile cross his lips before replying. "Well…yes."

            She settled back on her heels, satisfied, but still apprehensive. "So…" Hermione said, just to keep a silence from settling over them.

            "Hmmm," came the reply.  Oliver had no clue what to say either, but at least he was trying.

            They haltingly started to walk back down the hall, not knowing where they were going.  Suddenly, Hermione stopped walking.  Oliver turned to her questioningly.

            "One thing," she said, remembering the plot that had gotten them to this point.

            "What?" Oliver asked.

            Hermione grinned mischievously. "Don't tell Ron."

The End

So that's it.  Sorry it took so long for me to get the last chapter up (all that time, and it still turned out to be short).  I didn't want Hermione to say no, 'cuz that wouldn't have been a very good ending to an Oliver/Hermione story and I didn't want to write a sequel.  So, Hermione had to say yes, but having her tearfully yelp "Yes!" would be far too mushy for me.  And it would sound too much like a marriage proposal.  I hope I didn't overdo it with the dialog, but I wanted it to feel kinda awkward…I felt it would be closer to real-life.  However, I have experienced nothing Hermione went through except for the having-a-crush part, so all the emotional parts with Oliver are guesses at what it might be like. 

Wow, look at that really long Author's Note.  Anyhow, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this. ^_^  

And if someone's reallllly unsatisfied with the ending, I can add something.  *prays that no one will be unsatisfied with the ending*