Chapter 3
"Ah I see you spoke to Hermione then." Percy said as Oliver climbed through the portrait hole with a face like thunder.
Sparing a glance at his sister, Percy saw that she too was having difficulty hiding her amusement at the fact that Hermione and Oliver had both been scowling upon their return to the common room after speaking to each other.
The irony of the fact that they were squabbling like an old married couple when they both insisted that there was nothing going on was not lost on either of the two Weasley's.
"Yeah I spoke to her, mores the pity." Oliver mumbled the last words for fear of Ginny's infamous Bat Bogey Hex.
Turning to Percy he said; "Is there some sort of hereditary insanity in your family? Because I think someone needs to get George's head read for him. Some of the shit he was coming out with a minute ago made him sound positively certifiable."
Percy frowned. If he were honest he'd often wondered whether all of the marrying of distant family members in pureblood families could result in that very problem. It happened to Muggles if they interbred and really, there was little else that could explain Lucius Malfoy.
"Perce you in there?" Oliver asked, well used to Percy's mental wanderings.
"What? Oh….oh right yes. Well can you tell me what he said?" Percy questioned finally.
"I don't know. He was rambling some shit about Egypt, Hermione and Weasley family permission." The Quidditch captain replied, running a hand through his short, wavy dark hair.
At this Ginny gave up pretending to be disinterested and chocked on her pumpkin juice, spraying it across the table and all over Percy.
"Um... Sorry Perce." She said sheepishly as she mopped u p the spilt juice with the towels Oliver summoned for her.
Percy blinked owlishly at her then smiled as he realised why she had attempted to inhale her beverage and had ended up giving him a pumpkin juice shower.
"Quite understandable Gin dear." He replied understandingly. He turned his attention back to Oliver who was looking at the pair of Weasley's as though they should be in St Mungo's.
"Did George by any chance mention the River Nile?" Percy questioned him, making Ginny swallow her mouthful of juice for fear of giving a repeat performance.
"Yeah he did. But that wasn't even the most bizarre thing he said. I mean he was that out of it that he actually suggested that I was planning on asking Hermione out." Oliver told him concernedly.
As the words left Oliver's mouth Ginny immediately slapped her hand over her mouth, which was thankfully pumpkin juice free this time.
Percy smirked at her across the table, quite enjoying her discomfort. Seconds later it was Ginny who was smirking after she kicked him in the shin under the table.
Percy scowled while Ginny beamed and Oliver just looked confused.
Eventually though he gave up trying to understand them and asked: "So where is Hermione?"
Ginny surrendered any pretence of normalcy and bolted out of the common room with both hands clamped over her traitorous mouth. The two seventh years watched her go with very different expressions.
Before Oliver could say anything Percy said; "She went up to bed."
Oliver nodded, then said; "Dare I ask?" pointing at the portrait hole that Ginny had bolted through and was still howling with laughter on the other side of.
Percy shook his head, biting his lip, trying and failing to be more mature than his sister and not laugh. Oliver shook his head and headed up the stairs to Hermione's dorm after pressing the secret button that allowed boy's access, muttering about Weasley family insanity.
It was a testament to how hard Percy was laughing that the Head Boy didn't even comment on Oliver's knowledge of the secret button.
Oliver could still hear Percy's hysterics when he reached Hermione's dorm room and made a mental note to tease his friend about the fact that he giggled like a girl.
The room, like every other Gryffindor dorm room, was circular with a number of curtained four-poster beds. There were four in this room, one each for Lavender, Parvati, Hermione and Ginny who had been put in here because she was the only Gryffindor girl in her year.
Kimba, who had followed him up, leapt straight up on to on of the beds and curled up between Crookshanks and a sleeping Hermione. Oliver was struck dumb by how sweet Hermione looked fast asleep with her hair loose from its usual bun and an old-fashioned white cotton Victorian nightgown on.
'Oh well there goes my apology.' He thought once his brain was capable of moving past 'wow she's actually seriously pretty' and the resulting astonishment that this thought caused.
Spotting an inkpot and some parchment on her bedside table he decided to write her a letter of apology instead. Settling down in the squishy armchair beside her bed he set about trying to write something that wouldn't cause them to get into another fight.
It took him longer than his Charms homework normally took, though that may have been because he kept stopping to gaze at the slumbering girl that was currently turning his well-ordered world on its head.
By the time he was finished he knew he would have to leave if he didn't want Hermione's room mates to find him there when they came up to bed. Leaving the note by her bed and deciding to let Kimba sleep on, he left quietly after stealing one last affectionate glance at Hermione's slumbering form.