Diclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They all belong to J.K.Rowling, except any that you don't recognise. I am not using any of this story for my own profit…etc.
Summary: Ginny runs into Oliver, upset after breaking up with James. Slowly, she falls for him. The only problem is, Oliver is now her teacher. Then James stops Draco from hurting Hermione. She likes James, but she doesn't want to hurt Ginny, and that's exactly what she's doing.
NB: Ginny is 16, Hermione is 17, James is in his last year of school, and Oliver returned to Hogwarts to teach Quidditch after leaving school.
Time of your life: Chapter 1
By Firefly
Another turning point a fork stuck in the road,
Someone grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go,
So make the best of this dazzler known as why,
It's not a question, but a lesson learnt in time,
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right,
I hope you have the time of your life. (Greenday, Time of Your Life)
Ginny pulled a strand of wet hair from her eye and slouched down against the side of the wall, despite the fact that it was raining and almost midnight. Her eyes were red and the bottle of wine that she'd managed to get hold of sat empty at her side. She swallowed, oblivious to the tears blurring her eyes.
He had left her. James had left her. He was the first person that she'd fallen in love with and he'd left her. Apparently, he was with Amy now. Amy, who was way more popular than her, Ginny Weasley. Her blue eyes darkened, remembering the desperation she'd felt as he'd stood there, staring at her, as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Ginny brought both hands to her face, her body shaking as she choked back the last of her tears. He'd been there – right in front of her and she couldn't bring herself to tell him that she might be pregnant. Not then, when he'd just dumped her. Instead, she'd turned round and run - as far away as she could.
Wiping a damp sleeve across her face, she carefully pulled the small plastic wand she'd made, from her pocket, where she'd shoved it after running from the girls' toilets. She stared at it, unable to conceive what she'd do if it all turned out wrong. Her hands shook, as she looked at the small white strip on the side of the wand, her eyes now dark hollows in her face. Her eyes fixated on the thin blue line stretching across the white. She wasn't pregnant.
Ginny broke into a fresh burst of sobs, her body trembling from the relief.
She sat there on the cold stone until she had pulled herself together and got to her feet shakily, trying not to stumble, and wishing that she hadn't drunk the whole bottle of wine.
* * *
Oliver Wood yawned and lent one hand against a wall. Last year, he had returned to Hogwarts to teach Quidditch. Unfortunately his new position required him to patrol the school corridors on a Thursday night, until one and although he'd tried to argue this with McGonnagol, claiming it would affect his performance in Quidditch, but she wouldn't hear of it and he didn't want to forfeit the job.
He was walking slowly into the entrance hall, only half-awake, when he heard the front door bang loudly against wall. Seconds later, a girl crashed straight into his stomach forcing him to take a deep breath out.
Over the initial shock he looked down in surprise. Ginny Weasley stood infront of him, mascara dripping down her cheeks, and soaked through from the rain. Glancing at the large grandfather clock over Ginny's shoulder, he squinted and read half past twelve. Why the heck would Ginny want to be outdoors at twelve-thirty? He thought trying to catch her eye, but she wouldn't look at him.
Behind them, the front door suddenly slammed shut with a bang, echoing through the opening.
"Damn, Filch," Oliver muttered, taking Ginny's wrist, and pulling her down the corridor quickly. He knew he was supposed to be her teacher, but he didn't want her getting into trouble. He mumbled something to one of the statues, which swung open silently and he led Ginny inside. He stood her still with one hand over her mouth, until he was sure that Filch hadn't heard them, before lighting his wand.
"Ginny, are you ok?" He asked concerned, then kicked himself for being so stupid. Obviously she wasn't ok, or she wouldn't have been crying. Ginny didn't reply.
"There's a room down here," he said, gesturing behind him, and motioning for her to follow. In fact, it turned out to be a whole lounge, complete with furnishings and lights. Oliver put his wand away, switched one of the lamps on and walked back over to Ginny. Gently, but hesitantly, he brought his thumb up and wiped a trace of mascara from her cheek.
"You're going to give me detention aren't you?" she asked miserably. Oliver shook his head.
"Don't be stupid…it's me," He said laughing gently. A tear rolled down Ginny's cheek. She looked down, ashamed. Oliver put on a serious face.
"It's James isn't it?" he asked slowly, but firmly. He didn't like James. James was barely two years younger than he was and played goalkeeper for Ravenclaw. He was known for always messing younger girls around. Oliver knew Ginny had been dating him; he had seen them together in the hall. Instinctively he became protective of Ginny.
"Look, if he messed you around…" He clenched a fist. Ginny let out a small sob and shook her head miserably, not wanting Oliver to get involved.
"It's not his fault," she lied through her tears,
"Oh, what so it's yours," he said sarcastically, and regretted it immediately.
"I'm sorry Ginny, look at least come and sit down," he lifted his hand, automatically about to place it round her waist, but instead changed his mind and warily held her wrist, directing her to the sofa.
She sat down, but still wouldn't look up, ashamed at what a mess she was in. Her head thumped, partly because she'd been crying, and partly from the amount of alcohol she'd consumed.
"If it wasn't James, then what is it?" Oliver asked gently. He put one hand on her arm to steady her shaking.
"It was James," she admitted reluctantly, choking on her words. She felt Oliver tense but he didn't say anything.
"He said it was over. He was with Amy…" She looked down miserably. Oliver hesitated, trying to work out whether Ginny was telling him everything. Trying to imagine whether she'd have been out in the rain - half drunk, he realised - if he'd only finished with her.
"You really liked him didn't you?" Oliver said regretfully, feeling a small twinge of jealousy. Ginny wouldn't catch his eye, unsure of how much to disclose to Oliver, aware that he was still her teacher. Eventually she gave in.
"I thought I…I thought I was pregnant," She mumbled, breaking out in a fresh burst of sobs. Oliver leant over and wrapped his arms round her gently, forgetting his position as a teacher, and trying to take in what Ginny had just told him. James had slept with her. She was barely sixteen.
"Oliver, you're hurting me," Ginny whispered. He pulled away in surprise.
"Sorry," He said carefully. "You're not…are you?" he asked. Ginny shook her head.
"Damn James," he muttered. "Look, I'll take you back to the common room, ok?" He glanced at his watch.
"I'll be fine," she replied shakily, getting to her feet. Her eyes made the room seem blurry, causing her to stumble.
"I'll take you," he decided. "It's almost one o'clock anyway, and I don't want you to get into trouble." He didn't mention the fact that Ginny had been drinking. Oliver placed a warm hand firmly behind her back to support her and walked her back to the Griffindor common room. She was barely awake when they got there. Gently, he ran a finger beneath her eye to remove the black stains and walked slowly back to his dormitory, rubbing his head and trying to remember when exactly Ginny had grown up from being the little girl he knew.
* * *
The warm morning sun crept in through a small gap in the curtains. Ginny struggled to open her eyes, aware of a dull thudding in her head. She rolled over, glancing at the clock on her bedside table. 11.30. Ginny sat up in panic, pulling on a pair of trousers and her robe at the same time. She ran down the stairs two at a time to the common room, and breathed out deeply, realising that there were quite a few people still there, spread out on chairs in front of the fireplace.
Hermione noticed her standing in the doorway and walked over.
"Hey Ginny, you look terrible!" Ginny rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"I'm just really tired."
"Yeah, I can see that, you've been asleep all morning. I told Professor McGonnagol you'd gone to the nurse. Anyway you just missed a great Quidditch match," she said. Ginny tried to force a smile, but failed.
"Hey don't look like that. It was Griffindor versus Ravenclaw…James ended up in the hospital wing. He broke his nose," Hermione said grinning. Ginny started to panic; memories of the previous night slowly flooding back.
"Oliver?" Ginny said incredulously. Hermione frowned. "Since when were you on first name terms? No, your brother hit him with a bludger?"
"Violently," Lavender added giggling. Ginny couldn't believe Oliver would have told anyone.
"It was George," Hermione added, mistaking the look of confusion on Ginny's face.
"He saw Amy kiss him good luck before the match started."
"Good luck? More like 'I'm never going to see him again, let's eat his face off'," Lavender snorted, before getting elbowed in the ribs by Hermione.
"He thought James was cheating on you." She added. Ginny sighed and shrugged. Hermione knew he'd broken up with her. She'd been in the hall at the time; which just showed how little James really cared.
"Is George here?" Ginny asked, using it as an excuse to look round the common room.
"No, I think he's still getting changed. After match pep talk and all that." She said rolling her eyes.
"I think his new position as captain is going straight to his head,"
"I'm just going to wash my face," Ginny said slowly, turning round and retracing her steps. She walked into the girls' bathroom, wincing as she remembered the last time she'd been there. Turning the tap on, she splashed her face with cold water and scrubbed at the black circles from around her eyes.
* * *
Ginny, are you ok? You've been sitting there for the last half-hour and not written a thing," Hermione leant across the table. Ginny shrugged and kept her head down in her books.
"You know he's not worth it," she said carefully, "You can do way better than someone like him." Ginny studied the page carefully. She couldn't bring herself to say that James had upset her by more than just breaking up with her. Hermione took a breath and tried again,
"We've planned a trip to Hogsmead at the weekend if you're interested?"
This time Ginny looked up.
"Um…Maybe…Look I'd rather be alone for a while, sorry." She carefully began to scrape her books up into a pile.
"Oh, ok, you can stay here, I'll leave," Hermione began.
Ginny shook her head, "It's ok, I was planning on going to the library anyway," she said. Picking her books up she walked slowly out of the common room, and towards the library, trying to clear everything from her head.
Ginny chose a seat behind a bookcase and scattered her books across the desk with a sigh. She tried to concentrate on her work, but every time she began a sentence, her mind wandered and she forgot what she had intended to say in the first place. With an agitated sigh she threw her pen on the floor.
"Hey Ginny," Oliver pulled a chair up and sat down across the table from her.
"You feel better now?" Ginny looked up surprised, but nodded and frowned. She couldn't quite remember everything that had happened the night before, and was aware that she had probably humiliated herself in front of Oliver.
"Thanks for helping me last night." She said trying to force a smile.
"I mean, I woke up in bed and without detention!" She added. Oliver grinned.
"Even if it was late in the morning," Oliver observed. Ginny frowned again.
"I noticed you didn't show up to watch Griffindor win the Quidditch earlier," he explained, "I tried to find you afterwards and see if you were ok," Ginny frowned unintentionally.
"You know, I felt it my responsibility as your teacher," he added all too quickly.
"Yeah…" Ginny said looking down. Oliver tried to catch her eye, but she didn't look up. He hesitantly brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"You won't tell anyone, will you? About…" She said quickly. Oliver paused for a split second, locking eyes with her.
"No,"
"Thanks," Ginny muttered. "I guess I'd better go, I think I've embarrassed myself enough in front of you already," she said abruptly, standing up.
"You haven't, and aren't you finishing that?" he asked nodding towards the parchment on the desk.
"I couldn't concentrate," she replied. Oliver stood as well straightening his shirt and shoving his hands into the pockets of his robe.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," he began. He looked at Ginny, who was watching at him oddly.
"Quidditch," he added. Ginny paused for a while before stepping forwards and hesitantly pressed her lips to his.
"Thanks for helping me sir," she said quickly, turned and left.
"Ginny, wait…" Oliver started, but she'd already gone. He shook his head, confused. He figured that she must have done it because she was upset, but the fact that she'd called him sir, made him feel uneasy.
* * * *AN: Thanks for reading this far down! I think that the characters may be a little shaky - I wrote this quite a while ago. I already have at least 3 more chapters ready to post which just need (a lot of) editing. Any other cool plot ideas etc. would be cool and there is more to do with Hermione coming up too in the next chapters. If there are any points you want clarifying then just say, and please R & R!!!
