Chapter 10 – The Way it was

Finally the ten weeks were up and Oliver returned to the hospital where he could get his cast removed. The contrast if skin colour proved just how much time he had spent outside in the sun, one leg being golden brown and the other milky white.

His Quidditch coach arrived when the nurse was talking to him. He would have to exercise it, she told him, but it was as good as it could be so that meant only one thing. That meant that he could get back on the team! His bone had healed quicker than expected so he didn't need the further few weeks of rest without the cast on, as long as he went easy on it and tried to be careful he could get back into playing his favourite sport right away.

After a short conversation with his coach it was agreed that he could come back and play in the next game, as long as his performance wasn't off in practice. Oliver happily returned to Hermione's house and for the first time walked round it without his crutches slowing him down. He went into his room and pulled his travel bag out from under the bed. Going over to the wardrobe he pulled out his clothes and started to place them into the bag, and then collecting all of the smaller items in a small backpack. It took all in all about twenty minutes to do and when the bags were zipped and placed by the door he went to sit on the bed and surveyed the now empty room. With a flick of his wand the décor changed from the dark blue walls he had decided on with many Quidditch posters and banners back to the way it had been before he had changed it. It was now no longer his room; it was just a plain, uncharacteristic guest room in a large house.

Now all that was left to do was to say goodbye to Hermione and Ginny. He sent an owl to Ginny as she was at work, then went upstairs to the floor he knew Hermione's study was on. He walked softly along the landing until he heard a noise in one of the rooms to his right. Turning to it he knocked on the door with four short raps upon the wood.

He heard the soft voice calling "Come in" and pushed the door open. Looking around the office it was just as he imagined it to be. Lots of wooden bookcases lining three of the four walls, a large desk against the fourth with papers stacked on top of it. Hermione was sat in the chair leaning on her elbows on the desk and reading what was on the screen of her computer. She turned to face Oliver and smiled.

"Hey you're cast-less!" she proclaimed with a laugh.

"Yeh, all better now!" Oliver smiled back "But actually that's why I've come up to talk to you. I spoke to coach this morning and he said that I could start back with training immediately. So I'm going to go and you can have your guest room back."

"You're leaving?" She asked, looking upset.

"Yeah, I want to get a lot of training in before the game we have next Saturday. I don't want to be playing badly."

"Oh. Ok then, well do you need a hand with your bags?"

"No I've got them you stay up here and get on with your work, I finished the second book and I want to know what happens next." He chuckled as he walked over to her. Giving her a kiss on the cheek her turned and walked out the door. "Thanks for putting up with me!" he called over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs.

--

Over the month since Seamus had started visiting the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, Ginny had slowly formed a friendship with him. He came in every couple of days to pick up something new to buy for his nephew to help him get through Hogwarts. Ginny had made it very clear that she was still trying to get over Harry and that she wasn't ready for a new relationship and he seemed fine with that.

He usually hung around and chatted for a while after making his purchases. Ginny found the company soothing; the pressure was off as he wasn't chatting her up but the attention made her feel confident again. So finally, as they spent more time together she built up the courage to ask him to dinner that Friday night. He gladly accepted, saying it would be much better than the meals for one he usually had.

Ginny realised, as she closed up the shop for the evening that she had gone the whole day without thinking about Harry.

"Until now." She muttered as she left Fred and George a note saying she would be late on Friday morning as she had errands to run.

She would have to pick up some real food instead of the convenience junk that she Hermione and Oliver lived off. She was just leaving as she received the note from Oliver informing her that he was moving out. She hurried home, worrying about how she would find Hermione. Ginny had watched how she and Oliver had got along and could tell that there were real feelings there, they were just too stubborn to be the one to admit that first.

Apperating into the hall outside Hermione's office she quietly slipped into the room.

"How are you Herms?" She asked softly, preparing herself for tears and a night of eating ice cream.

"I'd be fine if I could get these last few pages to fit in with the tone of the chapter." She muttered as she clacked away on the keyboard. "How was work?"

"Erm, good, I asked Seamus if he'd like to join us for dinner Friday night. That's ok isn't it?" Ginny asked looking at Hermione in confusion; she seemed so calm and like nothing at all had happened.

"That's fine, have we got anything to feed him?" Hermione asked, finally looking toward Ginny and giving her a smile. "You interrupted at a great time I'm just about to throw this across this laptop room. A break really does sound good right now."

"I'm going to get some things in on Friday morning so I'll ask Fred and George if I can finish early and I'll cook it when I get home." Ginny said, answering Hermione's question as they made their way down to the kitchen.

"There's no need I'll cook it, I usually took Friday afternoons off to watch movies with Oliver so it won't bother me." Hermione said as she flicked her wand to the kettle and it started boiling.

"So how you feeling about that? It must have been weird Oliver just up and leaving." Ginny asked with a sympathetic tone of voice.

"A little abrupt I guess, but it'll be nice to have things back to normal."

Ginny looked closely at Hermione's face and couldn't detect that she was lying, but she reminded herself, that didn't mean that she wasn't.

--

Friday came along and Hermione got up to eat breakfast with Ginny before they both started the day's work. Hermione went to her study to try to sort out the mess she had made of the third book the day before and Ginny went into the town to start shopping. She picked up the food that she and Hermione had decided on the night before. She then went back and dropped off the food before going to start work.

At half past three Hermione finished up with the chapter that she was going through. She went downstairs and looked over the bags of food that Ginny had left on the kitchen table. Everything was there so she started to pull it all out and started to prepare the meal.

Later that afternoon Ginny returned from work and peeked in to pick at the food that Hermione was chopping up and getting ready to cook.

"What time's he coming?" Hermione asked her as she poured them both a glass of wine.

"About six I think." Ginny said gladly taking the glass from her and taking a sip.

"So you seem bright and cheerful today. That's quite unusual for you these days, how are you holding up?" Hermione asked joining her at the table.

"I'm better, really I am. I'm still not completely over him, but I don't think I ever completely will. He's my first love; you don't ever get over that really. But I've accepted that nothing will ever come of it so I can move on a little."

"And this thing with Seamus? Are you two going to start dating?" Hermione asked her with a faintly hopeful smile.

"I really don't know. Not at the moment at the least, for now I'm just happy that I've got a new friend for now."

--

Seamus arrived and the three of them sat down to eat. The conversation never dwindled as past stories were recounted and stories of what had happened after Hogwarts were exchanged. It was past ten by the time dessert was served.

Through out the meal Hermione noticed the glances that Seamus was sending Ginny every few seconds. She seemed to either be completely oblivious of the fact that she was being so closely watched or she was just very good at ignoring things.

As they retired to the sitting room, a place with two very comfy sofas in a deep blue to contrast against the pale yellow of the room with an armchair to match and a pine coffee table set between, Hermione said that she was feeling very tired after a long day of cooking. She excused herself, telling them she was going to bed, and instead went to her study to continue writing.

Ginny could tell her friend was lying and was secretly thankful that she would be able to have some time alone with Seamus. She realised, with excitement, that she was starting to feel for this man that was sat beside her.

To her this meant three things, the chance that she was getting over Harry, the fact that her life may possible be able to continue and the last, unfortunate thought but she couldn't help but think it, another possible chance of heartbreak.

She hated the fact that she felt that way but after feeling so strongly about one person and getting rejected so badly as she did, she felt it right to be cautious of these feelings.

But with Seamus thoughts that contained Harry lessened and she was able to smile and have a happy conversation for the first time in a long while.

Seamus was captivated with the girl that he was sat looking at, she was a year younger than him but had eyes that held such wisdom and emotion. She had been part of the final battle when they had been in sixth year. She had been in her fifth year, only fifteen years old, at the time. She had gone through a whole range of emotions at the young age of eighteen that most people took a lifetime to experience. Some people would never experience some of the things she had seen, done and gone through.

Her face held a warmth and freshness that he hadn't seen in a girl before; she seemed so different from the people he had been with previously. He longed for her to open up to him, to be fully herself. He wanted to know all about her, wanted to take the time to learn all about this girl. She put up barriers that he longed to brake down, but he knew it would take time for her to trust him or any other man before that would be able to happen.

--

Two hours later Ginny walked Seamus to the door to say goodbye. It was an odd moment as they stood in the hall both had a hand resting against the door gazing at each other.

"Well thank you so much for the lovely dinner, I had a great time." Seamus said softly.

"So did I." Ginny smiled.

"I suppose I shall see you next time I need to send more tricks into the school, they can never have enough you know." He grinned.

Slowly he bent down a brushed Ginny's cheek with a swift kiss before opening the door and walking quickly away. She watched him go with a small smile playing across her lips. For the first time since she had found out about Harry and Melissa she felt that things could go back to normal and she could feel happiness the way she used to.

--

Oliver was sat on his broom, gripping the handle between his gloved hands. He was hovering in front of the three hoops. He watched as his team ran through various plays and defended the goals when the Quaffle came close.

He closed his eyes and smiled as the wind whipped through his hair and the cry of his team mates surrounded his as they called out to one another. All of it felt so right to his, this was where he was meant to be, he said to himself. He thought about all the times as he was growing up where he had imagined himself doing just this, and now finally he was here. For the past five years he had been a part of one of Britain's top Quidditch teams.

Yet when he was sat in the small hotel room he was staying in for the few days before they were set to travel to where their next game was being played, he could help but feel a little lonely. Usually at this time he would be sat watching movies with Hermione, laughing and talking with her.

But things were now back to the way they used to be. Back to normal, he'd just come out of routine, it would take a couple of days to get back into that's all, he thought to himself.

But why, he wondered, was it so much less of a thrill to be back? Where had all the excitement and passion gone? What more could he want? What more had he ever wanted?

A/N – A big thanks go to all my reviewers, you guys keep me going! –

Aimee
DariensSecrets
Chris
GrissomCainefan