Disclaimer: nothing.

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated. School, you know.

Chapter Fifteen

And just as soon as he'd come, he was gone. Gone. Again. Would this ever end? She felt empty, incomplete. Her face had

drained itself of colour, her hair was dull and hung limply to her shoulders. She hadn't showered in at least two weeks, since

she'd taken Sirius to the veil.

She tried looking at the bright sides of things. For instance, she and Tonks had managed to capture Lucius Malfoy's group

of Death Eaters, and they'd been taken to the very highly guarded Azkaban prison. Of course, they hadn't gone easily, but

they were there now, which was all that was important. Oh, and Lucius Malfoy had flirted with her again before going….so

that was good, sure, uhh….it told her that she was still attractive? She didn't know, but she was trying to make the best of

things.

After the troupe had been taken to Azkaban, Brynn took Sirius back to the veil. Their goodbye was tearful and short, but

contained a lifetime full of memories. Sirius made it quite clear that he would like her to settle down, and perhaps sew a few of

her wild oats.

"To be exact, no more sleeping with students, especially students of Malfoy's calibre," Sirius intoned. "You'll only hurt

them or get yourself in trouble."

Brynn was at her sister's home, dreading the start of new term in two weeks and staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. One

tile, two tiles, three tiles, four….

Door chime. Brynn ignored the sound and went back to counting. A few moments later, however, her sister dropped in.

"Brynn, you have company, and, er…I think you two'd better just…go."

She stared at Niamh, wondering what the hell she was talking about. After a glare, she climbed gingerly from her sweaty

sheets and walked into the front foyer. Her eyes widened in amazement as she looked at the person standing before her.

"OLIVER!" she screamed, forgetting her smelliness and to appear sullen and drawn. Oliver stood before her in a red

sweater and jeans, broom in hand. He was also levitating a spectacular "Who eats all the quaffles? PORKER!" sign. "What

on earth are you doing here? Dressed like that!"

"Today's the Cup," he said calmly. "You're going. With me. Now. I know what happened, now take a shower and get

dressed."

She stared at him, wondering why he was doing this for her.

"Do it, Brynn," he said. "Do you want me to be late for the Cup?"

She laughed and eyed him suspiciously. "Why are you doing this for me?"

"Why wouldn't I do it for you? Now go!"

A bit later she and Oliver were on their way, using a discarded doorknob as their Portkey. When they arrived, she and

Oliver made their way up to the seats he had. His seats had been got through his Quidditch team, so they were quite good,

but Brynn was wary of sitting near all the Quidditch players. After reaching their section, Oliver began introductions.

"Brynn, this is Erroll, Jack, Meg, Chris, Steven, Lloyd, Harriet, and Jarred. Everyone, this is Brynn."

"Hi, Brynn," they chanted and smiled, then returned to their programs. Brynn took her seat near Harriet, while Oliver sat

next to Jack. Oliver turned to her and grinned.

Some of the blokes behind them leaned forward to Brynn and Oliver.

"Oliver, gimme the sign, mate," Jack said, and Oliver handed it to him. Brynn turned and noticed Jack had his shirt off, and

his whole chest was painted bright turquoise in favour of the Dragons, and he'd painted quite a large smiley face using his

belly button. For the first time in weeks, she laughed a true laugh.

The match was brilliant, and Brynn found herself getting extremely into it, and even screaming along with Oliver and all his

mates. They raised their hands and pointed to Porker and chanted, "Who ate all the pies?"

The match ended in seven hours, and afterward she and Oliver went to party with his Quidditch team. Brynn, having not

eaten for as long as she hadn't showered, stuffed item upon item of food into her mouth, plate upon plate. Oliver also handed

her drink after drink, and Brynn felt herself relaxing, realising that her life could go on without Sirius, and she was fairly

positive it was really herself thinking it and not just the alcohol putting it into her brain.

"Oliver…" she said around five a.m. "Let's goa bed."

He smiled and took her into his tent, which was a small but well finished cabin-esque space with large overstuffed furniture

and a springy double bed. Brynn tried to take his shirt off, but Oliver pushed her back softly.

"I don't know if you're ready for this," he said.

"But I am…really."

He bit his lower lip and looked at her, pausing for a moment. "Brynn…"

She looked up at him.

"I've never wanted to be with anyone in the world more than I do with you at this moment,…ever, actually; I love you to

death but I want to take things slowly this time, because I don't want to make a single mistake and I want us to stay."

She looked at his gorgeous face, and especially the eyes that were wrought with worry. Gingerly, she stroked his cheek

and nodded slowly. "I completely understand."

He nodded, and his eyes fell on her as she peeled her clothes off slowly and put her pajamas on. She watched him as he

did the same, and then they crawled into bed together, separating awkwardly at first, but moving closer together as the night

wore on.

The two of them left early the next afternoon, Brynn dressed in a pink dress with huge white sunglasses and a great white

hat, and Oliver in a button-down shirt and khakis. They went to his flat, which was very small but very nice all the same.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," she said. "Anything is fine."

She walked around looking at things about the place, and she came across a photo of Oliver and her that had been taken a

few years back. Oliver had been in his last year at Hogwart's, which meant the photo was roughly four years ago…had it

really been that long already?

"Tea, biscuits, and ham sandwiches…a true Oliver Wood original," he beamed at her, placing the trays on a small coffee

table.

"Looks great," she said, and tucked in.

Later that evening, Brynn had just taken a shower and was in the process of putting a skirt on when Oliver looked in.

"I just wanted to know if you'd accept a formal invite to dinner with me," he said, and winked.

"J'aimerais à, monsieur," she drawled, pulling a shirt over her head.

He grinned. "Be out in ten minutes!"

Brynn thought she looked quite pretty, with her nice wool herringbone skirt on and a nice white drape-neck top. She had

epic stilettos on that matched her skirt perfectly, and her hair was straight and shiny, with the perfect amount of volume and

bounce.

"Bonsoir, Mademoiselle Flatley." He bowed slightly and pulled a chair out for her.

"Bonsoir, Monsieur Wood."

"Le dîner sera dehors sous peu," he said slowly, unsure of his French.

Brynn covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed. She looked into the kitchen at him, surprised to see him

dressed as nicely as she herself. He also looked quite nervous, flitting about madly in the kitchen. She laughed as he tried

tasting something with a spoon and it fell to the floor. Eventually, however, the food floated to a small table just next to the

dining table, and Oliver joined her.

"Let's eat," he said. "This was harder than I thought it'd be."

Brynn laughed and raised her glass to him. "It looks gorgeous."

He smiled, and she noticed he was sweating. In the back of her mind, she remembered thinking she'd seen men this

nervous only when they were about to…

What?!

Well, it did make perfect sense.

But Jesus! God now I'm sweating.

But it makes perfect sense.

But I don't want to be proposed to when I look like a big pasty cantaloupe.

After an excruciatingly quiet dinner, Oliver held her hand lightly and smiled.

Oh Jesus, oh God, Brynn thought, her heart racing.

"Brynn, I've thought of this a lot. I know the two of us are young, but I really think that when something this important

comes along, the opportunity cannot be passed up.

"I'm madly in love with you and I wouldn't be able to live my life without you. I know you feel the same for me, and…I

just…"

She looked at him, and he started straight into her eyes, then proceeded to get down on one knee.

"You're gorgeous, you're smart, you're perfect. I love you and want to be with you forever. Would you marry me?"

She nodded, then smiled. "Of course."

---------------------

Now, four months later, it was winter hols at Hogwart's, and Brynn stood at the entrance to the church. She was alone,

but this time she was fine with it, because through the door just in front of her a man waited, one whom she loved and one

whom she knew would never leave her, never force her to live in seclusion, never have to be away from her. It wasn't that

she didn't love Sirius, it was just that she loved Oliver every bit as much, and with Oliver things were easier and more

promising...more real.

The doors swung open and she walked into her new life.