Title: The Lucky One
Author: Sneezy Mouse
Rating: PG-13 due to implied naughtiness.
Disclaimer: All recognized characters; places and references to events and the aforementioned belong to the wonderful mind of J.K. Rowling.
Author's Note: One of my friends has multiple-personality/bipolar disorder. In this chapter, you'll get a small taste of how she's like and this is nothing compared to what she can be like when full-blown un-medicated. And I got her permission to use her as a plot device, so I'm allowed to make fun of her.
Chapter Three The Greek Gods Themselves Do Tremble
"Ginny, can I look now?" Hermione asked, slowly removing her hands from covering her eyes.
Ginny screeched, "NO!" and slapped her own hands in front of Hermione's eyes. "It's a surprise, Hermione. I've told you a thousand times already, no looking!"
Hermione sighed.
"I heard that," Ginny responded.
"You were supposed to," Hermione said.
This time it was Ginny who sighed.
"This surprise had better be good," Hermione said.
"It will be," Ginny assured. "You should be very excited."
They took a few more steps and, with flourish, Ginny removed her hands from Hermione's face.
"Ta-da!" she said.
Hermione gasped and scanned the room. They were in Hermione and Percy's flat and there, standing in front of Ginny and Hermione were all of Hermione's friends and family standing around with Percy's respective friends and family. Decorations announcing, "Congratulations, Hermione and Percy!" were adorning the walls.
"What is this?" Hermione asked.
"This," Ginny announced, "is your engagement party."
"Where's Percy?" Hermione asked.
"On his way. Oliver is brining him," Ginny answered. "Now, have fun at your party!"
Ginny gave Hermione a little push and soon, everyone was pushing around trying to get their congratulations in. A few minutes later Oliver sauntered in with Percy who was extremely confused on why there was another party celebrating the engagement. Oliver and Ginny explained the last one was for their friends to get drunk and have a good time; this one was a mature, adult party. Percy shrugged and walked over to join Hermione.
"Hey," Oliver said, sidling up to Ginny.
"They are so happy together," Ginny observed, looking at Hermione and Percy. Oliver followed her gaze.
"Yeah," Oliver agreed. "Good for them."
"Exactly. So, Oliver, guess what?" Ginny said happily.
"What? You've come around and want to shag?"
"Hardly," Ginny snorted. "I have found a girl for you to have a go with."
"Really?" Oliver said, impressed. "You did that quite quickly. How?"
"Please," Ginny said. "The minute it was known I was looking for to set up one of my mates with Puddlemere United Quidditch Star Oliver Wood, I had tons of prospects. But I narrowed it down to one girl."
"And who might that be?" Oliver scanned the crowd.
"She's a very good friend of mine," Ginny said. "She works with me in the Conservation of Magical Creatures Department. Her name is Persephone Daniels. She's pretty and is quite a laugh."
"Persephone," Oliver said. "Interesting name."
"And look," Ginny said. "You already have an ice breaker. Ask her about her name. She loves telling the story about her name. Apparently has something to do with a Greek Goddess. Never paid much attention to the story."
"And why not?"
"Because I didn't care," Ginny responded.
Oliver laughed. "You sound like smashing mates. Don't even care about how she got her name."
"Shut up," Ginny responded. "Anyway, she's twenty-four and, well, is right over there."
Ginny pointed and Oliver followed her finger to whom he assumed was Persephone Daniels who was very pretty and was smiling very wide. Laughing, no doubt, at the joke Fred was telling her. She was short, probably up to Oliver's chest, olive skinned and had dark hair. Ginny yelled her name. Persephone looked over, saw Ginny and Oliver and smiled more broadly. She bid farewell to Fred and began walking over.
"Whoa," Oliver muttered.
"I told you she was beautiful," Ginny said quickly as Persephone had just walked up. "Persephone, this is Oliver. Oliver, Persephone."
"Hello," Persephone said smoothly, taking Oliver's hand and giving it a shake.
"It's nice to meet you," Oliver said, bringing Persephone's hand up and giving it a light kiss. Persephone giggled. Ginny, on the other hand, felt oddly ill.
"So you are the infamous Oliver Wood," Persephone said. "It is very surreal to be standing here speaking with you. My friend Beth would die if she knew I was having a conversation with you."
Oliver shuffled his feet a bit in embarrassment but said, "Yes, well. Ginny told me a bit about you as well. You work in the ministry with her."
"Yes," Persephone replied. "The Conservation of Magical Creatures Department. We strive for the protection and repopulating of creatures such as unicorns, thestrals and the like. Very rewarding work, I must say. And you," she said, "are on the Quidditch team. How is that working out for you?"
"It's smashing, actually," Oliver said. "I love the sport a lot."
"A little too much," Ginny added.
"Quiet," he replied to which Ginny smirked. "As I was saying, I love the sport. It's very exciting. Do you play?"
"No, I don't," Persephone answered to which Oliver gasped.
"You don't?" he said. "How could you not play?"
"I never had an interest in it," she said. "Though if someone around me had shown as much passion for it as you do, I might've changed my mind."
"I could show you how to play," Oliver offered. "It is easier than it looks. Well, the basics of the sport are simple. When it gets competitive and you throw in plays and all that, it gets a bit more complicated."
"I would like that," Persephone said, smiling wide.
"Well," Ginny said, "I'll excuse myself then."
Both Oliver and Persephone gave Ginny grateful smiles. Whether it was for leaving or setting the two of them up was unknown. What Ginny did know was that she needed to leave. The flirtatious atmosphere was making her a bit nauseated. She was trying her hardest to convince herself that the nasty feelings she was experiencing were due some undercooked food that was at the party, but she hadn't ate.
Plus, she didn't think food sickness would become heightened every time she glanced at Oliver having a laugh with Persephone. Oh, she was touching his arm now. Now she was handing him a piece of paper. Probably a phone number.
Ginny felt her eyes narrow and heard her mind mutter the word, Tramp.
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Oliver was standing nervously outside an unknown flat door. Well, it wasn't quite unknown. It was Persephone's door. She had given him her phone number at the party and he had, after a few unsuccessful tries, successfully used the telephone. He had rung her the next night and had set up a date for a week later.
It was now the night of that date and Oliver was standing outside her door in khaki cargo shorts and a blue plaid short sleeved button down holding some wilting flowers. It was ungodly hot out tonight.
Oliver had to wait a few seconds after he knocked the on the door before Persephone answered. He had to stop himself from letting his draw drop because she was dressed in a very skimpy yellow sundress.
"Hello," she said happily.
"These are for you," Olive said, brandishing the wilting daisies. Persephone didn't notice the wilting and took them, thanking Oliver graciously. She placed them into a vase and walked back over to Oliver and closed her door.
"So," she said, "what's on the agenda for tonight?"
"I thought we'd give that little bistro in Hogsmeade a try," Oliver said. "I heard good things from some of my friends. But if you don't want to go – "
"No," Persephone said, "it sounds lovely."
Oliver took Persephone's hand and they were soon popping into, quite literally, the Hogsmeade Bistro. They were quickly seated at a table – Oliver assumed it was due to the fact he was a celebrity because there was a long line of other people waiting to be seated.
"You look very pretty tonight, Persephone," Oliver said, thinking about how stupid that sounded.
"You look quite dapper yourself, Oliver."
Oliver nodded and shrugged. "It was sort of hard finding what to wear. I'm not very prompt when it comes to cleaning clothing."
Persephone laughed and said, "Because Cleaning Charms for clothing are so hard to learn."
"They are not hard to learn," Oliver agreed, "they just take too long to get the hang of. I've blown up a good few shirts trying to clean them."
"Then go to a Dry Cleaner."
"A what?"
"A Dry Cleaner," Persephone explained. "Or purchase a washing machine and dryer. Both are very popular ways for cleaning clothing in the Muggle world."
"I gather you are from Muggle heritage?" Oliver asked.
"You gather correctly," Persephone said. "Muggle mother, Wizard father."
"Not to be prying, but wouldn't that cause some strife on a marriage?" Oliver asked tentatively.
"Oliver, do not worry about prying," Persephone said, "I understand that for pureblood wizards, Muggle parentage is a bit fascinating. Feel free to ask any questions and if for a reason I feel they are too intrusive, I will politely decline answering."
"All right," Oliver said.
"As for the answer, it did cause some problems for my mother; mainly due to the fact my father and I shared something so significant in our lives whereas she, well, didn't. But it obviously didn't cause a lot of problems because they eight more children after me and are going to be celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary."
"They had nine children?" Oliver asked. When Persephone nodded, Oliver added, "that's more than the Weasleys."
"I know. Ginny was very impressed having met someone with more siblings than she," Persephone said. "I'm the oldest, next is my brother Helios, brother Apollo, triplet sisters Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia, sister Hecate, brother Morpheus, and twin brothers Castor and Polydueces, or Pollux as he is called."
"Whoa," was all Oliver could say. "Interesting names. Was you father named Zeus?"
Persephone laughed and said, "you know your Greek Mythology well. As a matter of fact, he was named Zeus. Amusingly enough, my mother was named Jane."
"Were all your siblings magical?" Oliver inquired.
Before Persephone could answer, a waiter came over to take their orders. Oliver stayed simple with a roasted chicken sandwich and glass of tap water whereas Persephone ordered a side salad and mineral water.
"Is that all you want?" Oliver asked. "Because you are allowed to eat, you know." Then he smiled to make sure his comment wasn't taken unkindly.
Persephone didn't smile back and said, "I am on a diet, if you must know."
"Why?" Persephone gave Oliver an evil look at this question. "Sorry," he muttered.
Persephone nodded curtly but her annoyed demeanor vanished as quickly as it came and she asked sweetly, "What did you ask, Oliver? The waiter interrupted our conversation."
"Er…" Oliver responded. "I think I asked if all your siblings were magical."
"Oh, right," Persephone chirped. "No, they all aren't. I am, obviously, and so are Helios, Apollo, Aglaia, Hecate, Morpheus and Pollux. It's really hard at family reunions because there seems to be a lot of competition; especially between the triplets and twins. It's hardest for them, I think. No one else seems to really care. Or if they do, they don't show it."
"All right," Oliver said. He didn't really know what to say. He didn't want to make her mad.
"So tell me," Persephone said, drinking her water, "About Puddlemere."
"Well," Oliver said, happy knowing he could talk for ages about Quidditch, "it's great. I've been on the team for nine years, officially playing for seven. I was on the reserve team for two but the then Keeper retired and I got my big break.
"My first game I remember really well – "
"How much do you get paid?" Persephone interrupted.
"Paid?" Oliver repeated. "Er… well, when I was on the reserve team, not much actually. I went through a good two-year period where I lived in one roach-infested flat after another. Actually, I have a really great story about how one of my friends came over and – "
"But now," Persephone persisted. "What do you get paid now?"
"Er… a few hundred galleons a month. It really varies, depending on season success and celebrity. My teammates make fun of me for it, but I get paid a bit more than the lot because I, apparently, am what bring in the lady set of our fan base. They're the ones snapping up all my posters and paying ungodly amounts for locks of my hair or sweaty socks."
"A few hundred," Persephone mused. "Can you be more specific?"
Oliver furrowed his brow and could feel a little ball of anger arising in him.
"About six hundred," he responded. "Why?"
Persephone shrugged. There orders came moments later and not a moment too soon. Oliver wolfed down his sandwich and water quickly as not to prolong the date any longer. Annoyingly enough, he had finished his burger in the amount of time it took Persephone to take maybe four bites of her salad and drink half of her water.
Oliver tried not to, but an impatient sigh emitted from his mouth. Persephone didn't seem to notice, but put her fork and knife down on her plate, crossed away from her signifying she was finished. Oliver was suddenly very glad she hadn't ordered something more expensive.
"Is that all of your eating of your dinner?" Oliver asked, immediately regretting it.
"I am full," she snapped. "Is that okay with you?"
She clipped her words, and at every clip Oliver flinched a bit. Obviously food was a touchy subject for her.
"Yeah, sure," Oliver responded, and then signaled for the check.
"Are we finished eating?" Persephone asked.
"I thought so," Oliver said.
"You're not offering me dessert?" Persephone asked with her eyes narrowed.
"Er," Oliver said, "I thought you said you were full."
Persephone huffed quietly and Oliver bit.
"Would you like dessert?" he asked.
Persephone smiled kindly and said, "no thank you."
Oliver shifted in his seat and signaled for the check again. The waiter walked over and handed Oliver the bill with flourish and walked away. Oliver quickly threw down the respective money and tip, then got up and pulled Persephone's chair out for her. She may be a little iffy in the personality area, but Oliver was still a gentleman.
Persephone mentioned something about walking around Hogsmeade for a bit, but Oliver – wanting the date to be over – politely declined, citing that he had an early morning practice the next day. Persephone narrowed her eyes, but said, "all right" and suggested they Disapperate on home.
"Thank you for the lovely date," Persephone said.
"Yeah," Oliver said. "You too."
"Would you like to come in for coffee?"
"No thank you," Oliver said a bit too quickly, earning a hurt look from Persephone.
"Well," she said, lips tight, "goodnight, Oliver."
"Good night," Oliver responded, giving a bit of a wave before walking away from the door. As he reached the end of the hall, he heard a door slam very loudly. Oliver shook his head in disappointment, and then popped back to his apartment.
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Ginny was standing outside of Oliver's flat two mornings later, though she could honestly say she didn't quite know why. Persephone had come into work the next morning griping about how big of a jerk Oliver was. Since it was Oliver Wood, Witch Weekly heard about it and it was advertising already for the exclusive of, "My Date With Oliver Wood" as told by Persephone Daniels.
Whatever the reason for her appearance at his flat, she was there and she reluctantly knocked on the door.
"Yes?" Oliver said. "Oh, hi, Ginny. What are you doing here?"
"Well," Ginny said, racking her brain for an excuse and came up with, "Persephone told me about your date. Figured I'd come over to find out if that's what really happened. Need to know if I should believe next week's Witch Weekly issue."
Oliver grumbled something about, "bloody reporters" but invited Ginny in nonetheless.
"I guess you heard about our date?" Oliver inquired, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Want some?"
"No thanks," Ginny replied. "Yeah, I did hear about it. I also heard that you, apparently, were quite rude the entire night."
"Did you also hear that she was a bloody psycho?"
"Well," Ginny said, smirking, "no. She seemed to have left that part out."
"She was," Oliver replied. "Especially about her eating habits. I mentioned a few times about how little she ate and every time she would turn all…"
"Psycho?" Ginny offered.
"That's a bit of an overstatement, but she got a little weird. Then a flash later, she would be all sweet and perfect again. It was a bit disconcerting."
"I apologize," Ginny said, "for setting you up with her. I had no idea she was like that."
Oliver paused for a moment, then asked, "how well did you know Persephone?"
"Er," Ginny replied.
"A-HA!" Oliver said triumphantly. "You didn't know her that well, did you? You just pawned her off on me to get out of the agreement. Well, Ginny Weasley, you failed."
Ginny's mouth gaped open and she sputtered, "I most certainly did not! I set you up with a mate of mine and – "
"Yes, you did do that," Oliver agreed. "However, the agreement was to successfully set me up with a friend of yours. But, as we know, the date with Persephone was not a success. Therefore, you owe me a shag."
Ginny gave a disgusted look.
"I do not!" she screeched. "It's not my fault it was so unsuccessful. Maybe you just can't relate to women."
"I do. Just not when they have maladjusted personalities. It's a wonder I get along so well with you!"
Ginny and Oliver glared a bit at one another for a moment before a smile broke out on Ginny's face and they both began laughing.
"Ginny," Oliver said, mirth in his voice, "I appreciate that you stopped by but I have practice soon, so… I'm sure I'll see you soon with some wedding things."
"Yeah," Ginny agreed. "I'm going shopping with Hermione tomorrow and I'm sure she'll want to talk endlessly about the wedding."
"That's a good thing about men," Oliver said, "Percy might say something in passing or mention a date. I don't believe we've had a single real conversation about the upcoming nuptials."
"Lucky bastard," Ginny muttered. "But, oh well. I'll see you later."
"Bye," Oliver said, walking with her to the door and closing it behind her.
Ginny walked out of his building, opting to walk back to her flat rather than Apparate since it was a beautiful summer day. All along her walk, Ginny's mind kept drifting back to the fact that Oliver and Persephone's date was a complete disaster. She could see why it hadn't worked out, thinking about their personalities. There was just one aspect of their date that she couldn't figure out.
Why she, Ginny Weasley, was so happy that it was a failure.
Author's Note: Voilá! Chapter three is done so now is the time to review, if you want. Also, I've added a few new stories to my 'Favorite Stories' list and they are fantastic. They are called 'Deflowering Ginny Weasley' and 'The Importance of Ancient Runes.' They are great and I strongly recommend them.
Thanks to my chapter two reviewers: delusional-penguin, lil'doxy, kravenclaw, Merit Somnia, lilgreenfirefly, cherryblossom203, Queen of Greenland, son gomay vidal goku, green smurf, Desda Ryelle, elijahsbaby1981, Branmuffinpower (x2), ayumi-dono, Spordelia Chase, and George's Brother Fred.
See you in Chapter Four: Meddling in the Affairs of Dragons.