Disclaimer: I believe we have already decided on the fact that it all belongs to the lucky devil that is Ms Rowling, apart from Jenny, she be mine:-)
A/N: On with the thank you's. SnapeSeraphin - It's nice to know you are keeping an eye on me, it's here and awaiting your opinion:-). JTBJAB - Interesting how? I hope you like it though and thanks for reviewing. sarcastic - I'm glad you think it's got a great start, let's hope it stays great:-) Hope you enjoy this one. BrennaM - Yeah it is nice to see someone else with Hermione, but all my stories seem to be Hermione working her way through the blokes of Harry Potter land, hehe. Lady Norskstar - I can't believe this is your first Oliver/Hermione story, I'm so pleased. Well, I hope it keeps you hooked. fuzzypuff - I hope you like this chapter. grahamcrackers - I can't believe you think this is gonna be a good one, I'm so honoured that you like it so much. Hope the update is to your liking. MysticEyes818 - Are they gonna hook up? You'll have to keep reading to find out:-) FlairVerona - And there'll be more mood swingyness. Chantal J - The update was quite soon but I have a flow now so it should be updated a lot sooner each time. sortinghat086 - Hope you like this chapter. wyldetygress - Don't worry, I am continuing. I never give up on a story otherwise it'll annoy me that it's still hanging there. Hope you enjoy.
Right my wonderful readers, was having a bit of trouble carrying on from chapter 2 and wrote this chapter about four or five times, maybe more, I've lost count. I have finally got a good flow on this one and have the next four chapters already written, they just need to be sent to my beta when completely ready. Which reminds me, a big hug and wet kiss for my wonderful beta for taking the time out to do this story. Anyway, I hope this chapter is up to scratch for you all and let me know if there are any problems with it.
Who's Apologising?
Hermione let the tears fall for barely five minutes when her anger came flooding back. Oliver Wood was a jumped up little twerp who needed bringing down a peg or two, and she was just the person to do it. She huffed and puffed as she got up and stormed to the bathroom. She never backed down in an argument with Ron and she was going to marry him; so why should that big-headed idiot be any different? She slammed on the shower before beginning to virtually rip her clothes off. It was one thing shouting at her but to come to her home and insult her; how dare he!
She almost tripped as she got into the shower; a thought had suddenly popped into her head thus ceasing all thoughts of bringing pain to Oliver Wood. How did he know where she lived? She squirted some shampoo into her hand while pondering the question. Before she could even start to rub it into her hair she realised that only one person could possibly have told him.
It was safe to say that Hermione had never showered so quickly, she hadn't even attempted to put conditioner in her hair; what was the point anyway? It still liked to go wild with a whole bottle of conditioner used on it. Within minutes she was dried, dressed and ready to throttle.
"Potter," Oliver growled as he stormed pass Harry and into Harry and Jenny's home, "What is wrong with that damn friend of yours?" Harry frowned at him as he watched his team mate disappear into his living room.
"It's nice to see you too, Oliver," he mumbled as he closed the door, but he didn't get much further as he heard a sharp crack behind him. He spun round to find an annoyed Hermione glaring at him.
"What on earth were you thinking," she growled while poking him in the chest with each word, "giving that power-mad fool my address?" Harry barely had any time to speak when Oliver came stalking out of the living room.
"Why is sh-…YOU!" he shouted when he clapped eyes on Hermione. Her blood started to boil when she heard his voice; Harry gulped in fear at the look on her face, that look scared him. She slowly turned round to face Oliver. Jenny had just reached the bottom of the stairs across the hallway from the living room just as Hermione gripped Oliver by the scruff of his collar, and then dragged him into the living room before slamming the door behind her.
"What's going on?" Jenny asked with confusion written all over her face.
"I don't know but I think we'll stay upstairs until it's sorted," Harry spoke in a cheerfully false voice as he led his wife back up the stairs.
"You owe me an apology," Hermione demanded to Oliver. They were squaring up to each other in the middle of the room, but Oliver was winning as he was a whole head taller, Hermione just seemed to be glaring at his chest.
"Now hang on, you bloody irate woman, you owe me the apology," he demanded in return, using his height to his full advantage. Where had this mood swing come from? This wasn't the same woman he had left less than an hour ago.
Hermione was beginning to shake with rage, her wand still tight in her right fist from Apparating herself there. A subconscious debate was raging on with her fury, should she put her wand away or not? It might come in useful but then she might do something she'll regret. The sensible side of Hermione won outright as she shoved the wand into her jeans pocket.
"You come into my home and you shout at me, insult me, hurt my feelings and make me feel like a fool. It's you that owes me the apology," her voice was getting louder and more shrilly with each word, and she refused to let the fact he was towering over her affect her. Oliver shook his head in disbelief.
"No, you started this. I was trying to be friendly and you threw it back in my face, then you embarrass me in front of my team mates, and then when I confront you about it, you're suddenly quiet as a mouse. Yet not an hour later you're finally ready to argue when I'm not. So it's you that owes me the apology," Oliver was now out of breath and had gone bright red from his rant. He felt much better for it though, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm starving and would like some food. So when you've stopped being such a weirdo, we could go and get something to eat and listen to your apology to me."
"I AM NOT A WEIRDO!" Hermione yelled indignantly. She was thoroughly shocked; no one had ever called her that before. Her face was bright pink as she tried with all her might to rise to his childishness.
"Then why do your moods change all the time with no warning or reason? Surely it can't be the menopause," Oliver was getting tired of this, his stomach was growling away for food and he never could sustain an argument. No one could really get a decent argument out of him; he preferred to sulk about it after he'd had a bit of a rant.
"They change because you're so rude," she told him through gritted teeth, noticing that his bad mood was evaporating quickly. She looked at him unsure whether she'd won or not.
"I was rude because you were such a cow when all I wanted to do was keep you company," he told her with a bored tone sneaking into his voice. That was it, the last of his anger gone; it was now food on the mind.
"I was rude because I prefer to be alone," she snapped at him with bitterness in her voice. She hadn't won, it was him giving up. She sighed as she pushed past him to sit on the couch; staring him the eye was beginning to hurt her neck and there was no point in going on if he wasn't ready to fight back. Oliver, however, wanted to know more now. Pushing his thoughts of food to one side he went to sit next to her.
"You were rude to me because you like being alone," he stated as he leant forward resting his elbows on his knees, "What sort of excuse is that? Were you not brought up with manners?" He saw anger flash across her eyes as she glowered at him; finally, he was getting somewhere with the insanity that was Hermione Granger.
"It's perfectly valid excuse if you know me, and you don't," she spat at him, folding her arms in annoyance. He was sat there with a smug smile and it was taking all over willpower not to wipe it off for him, it reminded her too much of Draco Malfoy.
"But I was trying to get to know you last night, only you insulted me," he laughed at her which infuriated her even more.
"I like only knowing Harry and Jenny, it keeps me….." she couldn't continue her sentence. Oliver watched her as she fiddled with a loose piece of thread on her jeans, waiting for her to carry on, only she didn't.
"You're a mysterious one, aren't you?" he half joked to her, knowing that he was close to finding out why she had such a chip on her shoulder, he didn't want to get her bad mood again. She frowned at him in response to his pitiful joke.
"Look, I didn't mean to be rude last night, it's just I don't get out much, I don't like to go out, I hate being in crowds and I like to keep my distance from people," she carefully watched his expression as she spoke to him, looking for any signs that he was about to insult her. "Harry and Jenny are the only ones I keep close and even that's a struggle." She took a deep breath, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders just by telling him that small bit about her.
"I'm confused," he started, "that isn't the Hermione I remember in Hogwarts. From the stories I heard you were always out and about, nearly getting yourself killed with Harry and the Weasley's little brother, what's his name?"
"Ron," she felt her heart wrench at the mention of him.
"That's it. You three were inseparable and you were never rude," he chuckled at the last part. He looked at her and was horrified to find her eyes welling up with tears. "What've I done now?" She half laughed half choked at him, trying her best not to cry.
"Nothing……it's nothing," she lied to him. Oliver poked her in the side causing her to jump at the contact, "What was that for?"
"I don't get on with people who lie to me," he explained to her with half a grin, half a scowl.
"We've not being doing a bad job of it so far. We've done nothing but snipe at each other and that gives me reason, just a small one," she demonstrated the size with her thumb and forefinger, "to believe that we haven't be getting along so far." Oliver laughed at her silliness; he didn't know anyone that could flip an argument into a joke.
"How about we get something to eat and you can tell me why this 'nothing' caused you to be so rude to me," he took his wand out of his jacket pocket and held his arm out to her, " and then you can finally give me that apology."
"No, no, no, no and no. You owe me the apology and you obviously don't listen; I.DON'T. LIKE. CROWDS," she snapped at him, his conceitedness bringing back the reason why she was rude to him in the first place. Oliver suddenly leaned forward and gave her a puppy-dog look. He snapped back when what sounded like a growl escaped Hermione's throat.
"I never said we were going to a crowded place and we can discuss the apology once I've eaten," he offered her arm once more but she just stared at it, "Come on, woman, I'll wither away at this rate." She finally gave in, feeling her own need for food begin to win over her stubbornness, she gripped the crook of his arm and stopped him from Apparating them.
"This doesn't mean I'll be talking about my 'nothing' though," she informed him. Oliver gave her a grin and muttered a 'we'll see' before Apparating them out of Harry and Jenny's living room.
"It's quiet down there. You don't think she killed him do you?" Harry asked softly while peering down the stairs, "We need him for a match on Saturday." Jenny laughed at where Harry's priorities lay. She leant against the doorframe of their bedroom while she watched him bob up and down, trying to get a view of the living room door.
"Go and check on them, you look like you've got ants in your pants doing that," she instructed him. Harry glanced back at her, then down the stairs and then once more at her before taking a deep breath and nodding.
"Wish me luck," he told Jenny as he gingerly stepped down on to the first of the stairs. He listened carefully for any sudden noises as he made his way down the stairs. Once he reached the bottom, he strained his ears trying to hear what was being said but heard nothing. He tip-toed across to the living room door and opened it enough to peek in; they were gone. He flung the door open and scanned the room. "JENNY, I THINK THEY'VE KILLED EACH OTHER!"