Disclaimer: It's all JK Rowling's, except Jenny she's mine...and any other characters I threw in that aren't in the books

A/N: I don't know if it's just a rumour that FFN are stopping us answering the reviews, but have any of you had an email about it? Anyway, back to my thank yous. breezseadyver - I've taken your criticism on board and know exactly what you mean about it lagging. But I'm afraid that I've finished the story, this is the second to last chapter, and I've not got the heart for this story anymore to go back and improve it. But I hope you enjoy what's left. SongOfStars - You're an absolute star for reviewing nearly every update. Big hugs to you. A big thank you goes to Peanuts107 for beta-ering this story, you're an angel for putting up with it. Well, read on:-)

Delaying the Inevitable

Hermione was sat on the couch with her mother while her father sat on a chair opposite them and lazily flicked through the paper. He would listen with a smile to the conversation between his wife and daughter finally feeling like that void in his heart had been filled once more with Hermione's appearance back into their lives. He'd just wished that his little girl hadn't been through the pain of losing someone without them but they couldn't turn back the clocks. He glanced over the top of the paper once again to make sure she was still there.

"I promise I'll be here everyday," Hermione reassured him when she caught him looking at her for the fifth time in ten minutes. He winked and disappeared behind his paper once more. She snuggled back against her mum with her legs tucked under her.

"I'm so happy you're here," Mrs Granger told her with a broad smile. Hermione linked her arm round her mother's and held on tight.

"I know it seems like a silly reason for staying away-" she started but her mum stopped her.

"We grieve in different ways and death can bring out all sorts of fears, so you've nothing to apologise for, honey. All we want is for you to be safe and happy," Mrs Granger gripped her hand tightly.

"I just wish you could have met Oliver. He's such a wonderful person and he really helped ease the pain of missing Ron," Hermione told her with a hint of sadness in her voice. Even after all this time of not seeing Oliver she still missed him a lot.

"It does sound rather odd the way he stopped talking to you," Mr Granger spoke from behind his paper before folding it in half and placing it on the coffee table in the centre of the Granger's living room. "You know, when I met your mother, we were just friends at first. But when I realised that I loved her very much I didn't know how to talk to her. So I stayed away."

"Oh yes, I remember. It took me nearly a month to find out what was going on. He just wouldn't stay in the same room as me for more than ten seconds, it was simply ridiculous," Mrs Granger giggled fondly at the memory.

"Which makes me think that this Oliver fellow maybe has stronger feelings for you than just friendship," Mr Granger pointed out while he scratched the day's stubble. Hermione shook her head having been through this with Jenny a thousand times the past couple of months.

"No, honey, your dad could have a point there. You say he lost someone too?" Hermione nodded as she waited for the usual to be said to her. "Maybe it's scared him and he now feels guilty about liking you more than just a friend."

"Mum, dad," she sighed, "I've had all this off Harry and Jenny too-"

"Oh, how are they, by the way?" Mrs Granger interrupted at the remembrance of her daughter's two lovely friends.

"They're wonderful and pregnant," she told her mum hoping that this would end the conversation about Oliver and herself getting together.

"How lovely, when she due?" Mrs Granger asked excitedly, she always loved news of people expecting babies.

"She's just into her eight month but she looks like she's only into her sixth, it's amazing," Hermione told her as she remembered Jenny telling her exactly how far gone she was a few weeks ago. She had honestly thought Jenny was only a couple of weeks pregnant when Harry and she had told Hermione the news but she was actually at least twelve weeks gone.

"You should invite them round for a visit," her father suggested happily before getting up and disappearing into the kitchen.

"Yes, you could invite them for dinner right now. All that magic, they could be here quite quickly, couldn't they?" Mrs Granger asked uncertainly having never quite got a grip on how magic worked.

"I'm not sure how Jenny would feel about travelling at a moment's notice. She gets quite tired near dinner time as well," Hermione explained while her mum nodded in understanding. "I could invite them for dinner tomorrow?"

"Oh yes, that'd be nice. Now back to this young man, Oliver." Hermione rolled her eyes as she remembered that her mum never forgot anything.

Oliver was stood staring at Hermione's front door, his palms sweating profusely as he tried to work up the courage to curl one of them up and knock on the door. He'd been stood staring at the door for almost twenty minutes. He'd just about raised his fist to the door when he looked at his fist then at the hand still by his side; he needed a gift. Yes, he would get her some flowers or maybe a book as a peace offering first.

Resigned to the fact that he could put this off for a little longer, Oliver Disapparated into Diagon Alley. He glanced at his surroundings before heading to Flourish and Blotts having already decided that a book was the best way to go; Hermione didn't seem like a flowers girl.

He took his time over the latest release of books deciding that she surely couldn't have read any of these as they'd only come out within the past week. In the end he picked the two that had been released that very same day and made his way to the pub after paying for them; he was in need of some Dutch courage.

Two Fire whiskeys later Oliver was now ready to see Hermione with his peace offering gift. His heart was hammering as he appeared before her front door once more. He took a glance at his watch to check that it wasn't too late to be visiting; it was a little after eight, not too late in his eyes. He lifted his hand and knocked quickly before he changed his mind.

"One second – Crookshanks! Move from under my feet!" Oliver heard her voice on the other side of the door followed by a thud. "For pity's sake!" Suddenly the windows at the top of the door were flooded with light. A few seconds later, the door opened just enough for Hermione to peer through so that she could see Oliver half smile at her. "Oliver!" she exclaimed as she flung the door wide open and hugged him tightly.

"Air!" he gasped with his free arm hugging her back, the other holding on to the bag with her books in.

"Sorry," she smiled as she let go of him. Before anything more could be said, she had dragged him into her flat and through to the living room. "Your timing couldn't have been better, guess where I've just been!" He watched her do a mini jump on the spot after she'd pushed him on to the couch to sit. She was positively beaming and seemed to have become even more beautiful since he'd last saw her.

"No idea." He shrugged with a smile himself, her excitement was radiating off her. She sat next to him before answering causing him to become very aware of how close she was to him.

"I went to see my parents today. I've missed them so much and I can't believe I hadn't seen them in so long," she told with another gush of excitement. Oliver's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"That's fantastic, Hermione. How are they?" he asked with genuine happiness for her and forgetting his nerves at the same time.

"They're the most loving and understanding parents and I can't believe I cut them out like that," she said almost in one breath. He smiled at her, proud of the transformation that had happened in her since he'd been gone. He'd been worried at first that she might have been too dependant on him but it seems she'd been thriving without him. The smiled wavered for a second as he thought about that; what if she had become so independent that she would reject him from her life now?

Hermione stared at him intensely as Oliver seemed to drift into a daydream. She couldn't believe he was here, she could have always gone to see him but it was a step he had to take really. He'd severed their connection so it had been up to him to tie it back together. She saw a range of emotions flowing through his eyes without him being aware that she was watching. She had a sudden urge to hug him again and did. He jumped as he felt her wrap her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry for whatever I did but please don't stay away again," she pleaded with him with a sob that had been hiding without her awareness of it. Oliver frowned before pushing her away and holding her by the arms. "I need you around." His heart skipped a beat, it was almost as though she'd been reading his thoughts.

"You never did anything wrong and I've been so cruel not to tell you that," he told her with a break in his voice that caused his Scottish accent to become slightly stronger. Confusion was written all over Hermione's face but she didn't push him to answer the questions running through her mind, she just waited for him to be ready to tell her everything. He gave her a wobbly smile before speaking, "It seems I've lost my bottle to tell you everything, so how about we just catch up for now and I'll work up to it again."

"Okay," she laughed, still confused by what he was trying to tell her, "Why don't you stay the night?" He nodded vigorously in acceptance of the offer. She grinned before hugging him tight once more and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Oliver woke up the next morning a little stiff after having spent the night on Hermione's couch. He heard a dignified and irritated 'meow' as he rolled over and Crookshanks was flung to the floor. He tried to apologise but the animal had disappeared into the hallway with a flick of his fluffy tail.

He laughed when he could hear Hermione's voice through the wall scolding her pet, "I have an alarm clock, I don't need you to do it!"

"Morning!" he called through the wall to her before getting up to fold the blanket up. He sighed as grabbed his wand to send the blanket to its rightful place in the flat. 'Would he be able to tell her today?' was the question that kept flowing through his mind. He'd just have to see how the day flowed but first he had Quidditch practice to go to for a couple of hours.

"Morning," Hermione mumbled to him while rubbing her eyes, "I just can't keep my eyes open." She stumbled across to the couch and collapsed onto it. "I'm not sleepy enough to go back to sleep though." He smiled at her as he picked up his shirt from Crookshanks chair and put it on.

"Do you want me to make you breakfast before I go?" he offered as he picked his jeans up off the same chair and quickly pulled them on. He was just glad that she couldn't quite see enough for her to have noticed that he'd only been in his boxers when she'd walked in.

"It's okay." She shook her head. "You get off and come back here afterwards," she instructed through a stifled yawn while trying to force her eyes to stay open. He laughed at her behaviour before kissing her on the top of her head and left. Hermione continued to make her eyes stay open but they were too dry so she went into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.

She had barely finished patting her face dry with a towel and was turning to leave the bathroom when she walked into something solid. She shrieked and jumped back to find Oliver grinning, "Don't do that to me!" she shrieked while throwing a towel at her.

"I just wanted to let you know that I missed you a lot and it's really good to see you again," he told her through a nervous smile. She moved forward and pulled him to a tight hug.

"Now go before you're late," she instructed and waited for him to Disapparate before going back to the living room.

Harry was nearly ready for practice when Oliver walked in with a nervous look upon his face. It wasn't happy or sad, just nervous, so it was quite clear to him that Oliver hadn't told Hermione yet.

"If you don't tell her then Jenny's going to and you know how pushy she can get," Harry instructed as Oliver walked past him to his locker. Oliver nodded absent-mindedly while going over ways to tell Hermione in his head. Why was this harder than when he told Catherine? Suddenly he became aware of Harry's presence behind him.

"I've been to see her, if that helps," he told him while sitting on the bench and pulling his shoes off.

"Really? I bet she was really pleased to see you," Harry spoke happily while sitting next to him on the bench. Oliver nodded to him, his mind drifting off again to his rehearsed lines. "Why haven't you told her yet?"

"I'm extremely nervous and I can't shake it off long enough to tell her. Besides, she had just been to see her parents and was so excited that I had to let her tell me all about it first." He stood up and took his shirt off.

"Wait, she's been to see her mum and dad? When did that happen?" Harry asked in confusion. Jenny and he had been trying to get her to visit her parents for months now but couldn't get her to go.

"She went yesterday. She had just got home when I went to visit her," he told Harry as he roughly pulled on his Quidditch shirt on. Suddenly he paused and turned to Harry. "I was so close to telling her but then I lost the nerve." He turned back to his locker and pulled out his Quidditch pants. "By the way, I've been told to tell you that Hermione's parents would like you and Jenny to visit them tonight for dinner. Apparently I'll be there too so that her mum can coo over me."

"That'd be nice. I just can't believe she's been to see her parents, I honestly thought it would never happen," Harry told him honestly before going over to the broom cupboard and pulling out his broom.

"What if she thinks I'm really insensitive and kicks me out of her home when I tell her?" Oliver asked Harry, completely ignoring what Harry had just said to him.

"I'm not going through this with you. I can't tell you how Hermione will react, you're just going to have to tell her and find out for yourself." Harry threw Oliver's broom at him as he shut the door.

"Isn't there some sort of potion I can take to get rid of these nerves?" Oliver pleaded more than asked. Harry smiled sympathetically while patting Oliver on the shoulder.

"If there was, don't you think we would use it before each match?" Oliver seemed to visibly shrink in height as nerves were getting the better of him. "Try and tell her before we go to her parents otherwise Jenny will be doing it for you over dinner."