Chapter Six
Hermione dropped the plates in Oliver's house and clutched her stomach. Oliver came running to help her.
"You okay?"
"It kicked," Hermione muttered. Oliver banished the broken dishes and brought Hermione to a chair to sit down.
"You relax. Why the hell are you setting the table, anyway?" Oliver conjured up new plates and placed them on top of the placemats on the table.
"Where's Ginny?"
"Um…" Oliver looked around in thought. "She's out with Blaise… then he's coming for lunch, I think."
"Ginny's taking advantage of you."
"Yes, well, I have Keeper to attack them if they do anything in this house." He summoned drinking glasses and levitated them on the table.
"Have you even checked Blaise yet?"
"I've only seen him a total of two times. I'll interrogate him tonight over lunch." He sat down beside Hermione on a different chair.
"Ginny'll be pissed."
"Nah, I'm just looking out for her. She'll say something like 'you're not my father' or 'who do you think you are', but, hey, whatever." The two of them sat in silence.
"Bad dog! Willie commands you to stop! Willie commands you, down, you – you – you… bubotuber pus!" The house elf and the beagle tumbled into the room in a heap. Oliver began to laugh as Hermione giggled.
"You two all right?" he asked.
"No matter how hard Willie tries, Willie cannot come to dislike the thing," Willie murmured somberly as Keeper licked her.
Keeper loves you too.
"Keeper!" Keeper pounced onto Hermione's lap at the sound of his name. Oliver smiled at the two of them, then frowned to what Keeper was saying.
Ohhh yeah… can you rub my –
"Okay, Keeper, that's enough," Oliver pushed him off of Hermione's lap. Inside Oliver's head, Keeper laughed.
That just shows how much you like her… beeyotch.
"No more T.V for you," Oliver muttered. "You're learning too many new words."
Beeyotch is a substitute for the word 'bitch' meaning female dog. It's not a new word… beeyotch.
"Oh, shut u - …Hermione, are you hearing this?"
"Yes," Hermione said with a small smile. She really didn't.
"Damn it, Keeper!"
Muwah-ha-ha-ha-ha.
"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Keeper made an 'hmph' sound and trotted away. Hermione decided to poke fun at Oliver. She made a bold move and exclaimed,
"Aaah, you like me!"
"Not you, too…" To break the awkward moment, Blaise and Ginny apparated into the house in front of them.
"…Why's Hermione laughing… like… that…?" Ginny asked as she sat down opposite of her.
"Oliver… likes… me…" she managed.
"I'll get the drinks…" Oliver muttered and left the table.
During dinner, Oliver made Blaise sit in front of him. He cracked his knuckles and leaned back on his chair.
"Where do you work?"
"Part time in the Ministry, part time as a bartender." Oliver glanced at Hermione who shot him a look.
"You were Slytherin, right?"
"Don't judge me because of that," he said with an eyebrow raised.
"Wasn't going to." Then, Oliver broke into a series of questions he kept pent up inside of him. "ARE YOU A VIRGIN? WHO HAVE YOU DATED IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS? WHERE DO YOU WORK AS A BARTENDER? ARE YOU –"
"Oliver." Hermione kicked him under the table.
"Sorry." Blaise looked at Ginny nervously.
'Answer', she mouthed at him.
"Um… no… I'm not a virgin…"
"Aha!" Oliver stood up.
"Neither are you, sit down and shut up!" Hermione snapped angrily. "Continue, Blaise…"
"Um… okay… I dated, um, one of the other bartenders at the club for about a year and a half…"
"Which one?" Ginny cut in.
"Um… Laur –" Ginny gasped.
"That bitch." Blaise held in laughter and squeezed her hand under the table.
"I work at Atlantis… it's a Muggle club."
"Who did you lose your virginity to and when?" Oliver demanded. Blaise reddened.
"Is that information really necessary?"
"Are you giving me attitude?"
"What if I am?"
"Listen, buddy –"
"Blaise!" Ginny snapped.
"Oliver!" Hermione growled. Blaise and Oliver, who were both standing up, flipped each other off and left the table in opposite directions.
"You get Oliver, I'll take Blaise," Ginny muttered and took off after her boyfriend. Hermione sighed and walked over to Oliver, who was out on the balcony.
"Blaise?" Ginny asked softly.
"Mm hmm?"
"You know that Oliver's just looking out for me, right?" Blaise looked at her and stretched his arms out for a hug.
"Yeah, I know." He kissed the top of her head, feeling a little guilty. Lucius Malfoy's words at their last meeting rang through his head. I want her by the end of the year. Five months. …And Blaise was falling in love with her already after being with her for two weeks.
"Oliver?"
"Yeah?" He turned around and saw Hermione standing there. The wind made her hair fly around in all directions.
"Don't you think you were a little… harsh on him?" Oliver shrugged.
"Not really. You should've seen what I did to Fred and George with the whole Alicia and Angie thing." He beckoned her closer. Hermione squeezed in between Oliver and the balcony railing. Oliver rest his chin on the top of her head. "Five months…" he breathed out softly.
"Pardon?"
"You're having the baby in five months." Hermione nodded her head and leaned back against Oliver's chest. They went back inside after a couple minutes. "Sorry," Oliver muttered when he reached the living room, where Ginny and Blaise were.
"Yeah… me, too…" Blaise said. Oliver pointed at him and laughed.
"You're whipped!"
"Shut up." Blaise looked at his watch. "Oh, crap… I'm late for work… I've gotta go." He kissed Ginny on the cheek. "Thanks for lunch. Bye." With a crack, he disapparated. Oliver hastily took his hand back from Hermione's when Ginny turned to look at them.
"Isn't Blaise awesome?" With a squeal, she skipped up the stairs. Oliver and Hermione looked at each other, shared a smile and went their separate ways. Hermione winced on her way up the stairs.
"Kicked again?" Oliver asked from across the room on the other staircase. Hermione nodded and continued up the stairs. Oliver frowned and turned to go into his room. "This is stupid," he murmured and changed into jeans and a muscle shirt. He was going to some get-together with Puddlemere United.
"Ginny, you're sure you don't wanna come?" he called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll stay over at the Burrow for a while," she replied from her room.
"Okay." Oliver waited for Hermione. He smiled when he saw her, wearing a peasant skirt and a fitted shirt. Her stomach bulged out slightly on account of her pregnancy.
"I'm only going to stop you from getting drunk and sleeping with various girls. Remember that," Hermione muttered. Oliver smiled.
"Social enough?"
"Oh, shut up, Oliver." He laughed and nodded.
"Okay, hang on to me. You don't know where to apparate." Hermione did as she was told and, with a crack, they appeared in a mansion. "This is our leading Chaser's house… Dimitrius Andrich." He looked through the crowd of dancing people. "He's over there. Come on." Oliver took Hermione's hand and waved at people who greeted him.
"Are all these people Quidditch Players from your team?" Hermione asked in awe. Oliver laughed.
"Oh, God, no. Probably some people from Appleby, some from Moose Jaw – Canadian team, Hermione," he added at the confused look on Hermione's face. "Hey, Andrich."
"Wood, ya made it!"
"It seems I did. Dim, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, Dimitrius Andrich."
"Pleasure," Dim said and shook Hermione's hand. "Krista." A girl with long blonde hair turned around. "This is Oliver Wood, the Keeper of our team. Wood, my girlfriend Krista Swiff."
"I've heard a lot about you," Oliver said kindly, shaking Krista's hand.
"Good or bad?" Krista inquired, narrowing her eyes at Dimitrius, who grinned and began talking to some other people.
"A bit of both," Oliver answered. "This is my guest, Hermione Granger."
"The author? Oh, my God!" Krista shook Hermione's hand enthusiastically. "I've read most of your books! …You're bigger in person, no offence." Hermione just smiled at her.
"Krista Swiff, the legendary Charms Professor at Beauxbatons."
"I'm hardly legendary." Krista then went on a random rant about Fleur Delacour and how she stole every single boyfriend of hers.
"Uh – we know Fleur," Oliver cut in. "She's my friend's wife."
"You know Bill Weasley?" Krista's eyes went wide.
"We know all the Weasleys, actually," Hermione said. Krista nodded.
"Yes, yes, Ron Weasley… best friends, no?" Hermione nodded her head, making her brown curls bob up and down.
"Hey, I'll be right back, okay, 'Mione? Want anything to drink?" Oliver asked.
"I'll just have a butterbe-"
"No alcohol," he interrupted.
"Oliver, it hardly has any!"
"Four percent. I'm not taking the risk." Oliver shook his head and crossed his arms. "Anything else?"
"Gillywater," Hermione muttered. Oliver smiled and walked away.
"No alcohol?" Krista asked as they sat down on a couch. "Are you pregnant, or something?" Hermione looked at her sideways, then Krista gasped. "Oh, I remember! Most unfortunate… but you're with Oliver now, right? He must treat you well."
"Oh, we're not… we're not together." Krista sank against the back of the couch.
"Shame. You two compliment each other very well."
"Yes, well… we're still recovering from our past rocky relationships," Hermione said. Krista nodded.
"I totally understand that."
"So… you've hit the jackpot, Dim," Oliver said by the drink table. "You've got a girl that's beautiful and smart."
"So do you," Dimitrius commented. "Granger's an author, isn't she?"
"We aren't going out," Oliver said flatly. "She's with me as a friend, making sure I don't get piss drunk and the sort. Besides, the whole thing with Katie's still bugging me."
"You'll move on eventually… but God, Krista's great."
"Seems like it. A blond that's smart. I never knew it was possible."
"You're thinking of the typical stereotype blond. Not all of them are stupid. Just a select few… like that Death Eater Malfoy, for example." Oliver chuckled and poured the Gillywater for Hermione.
"Careful what you say, though. Who knows, there might be some Death Eater on a Quidditch Team." Dim nodded his head and looked around the room.
"You can't be too careful. I swear my mother questioned Krista for five hours the first time I brought her. Not that it was any different for me when she took me to hers…" Oliver laughed. "Oh, shut up. Your girlfriends' parents probably did the same to you!"
"No, they all thought I was a good little boy until I supposedly 'broke, ripped and stepped on their hearts' when I dumped them."
"You mean you never got questioned?" Dim asked, surprised, as they walked back to Krista and Hermione.
"It was probably because I'm in the line of 'good pure-blood families'… or maybe it's because my family's really close to the Weasleys and Longbottoms," Oliver replied. "Here you go, Hermione."
"Thanks." As Oliver plunked into the seat next to Hermione and put an arm around her shoulders, Dimitrius sat down opposite of him.
"So, what'd you two talk about while we were gone?" Dim inquired as he took a sip of firewhisky.
"Girl stuff. Don't worry about it, baby." Krista said with a sickly sweet smile. Dim narrowed his eyes at her.
"I know that look. That's your 'we-were-talking-about-sexy-guys-other-than-you' look."
"Sexy guys, eh? Like who?" Oliver took his arm back and hunched his back over, leaning slightly.
"Oh, you know… Muggle movie stars like Orlando Bloom…"
"Like who?" Oliver and Dim asked at the same time.
"That elf in Lord of the Rings."
"That guy's a poof. Oh, look at me! I can shoot arrows from my bow! I have long, flow-y blond hair that's always neat and tidy! I –"
"You're jealous," Hermione laughed. "Aw, Oliver's jealous!" She reached over and pinched his cheeks.
"I'm not jealous." Oliver leaned back on the couch, crossed his arms and pouted. "And don't touch my cheeks. My cheeks are sensitive. I have to put moisturizer on them every night."
"…Gross," Dim said. Oliver rolled his eyes.
"Kidding, Andrich." A slow song by the Weird Sisters came on.
"Ooh! Dance with me!" Krista dragged a protesting Dimitrius away from Oliver and Hermione.
"Let's go," Hermione said, taking Oliver hand and pulling him to the direction of Krista and Dim.
"Aw, come on, I can't dance!"
"I've seen you at school dances, Oliver Wood, and you were dancing perfectly fine!" Oliver looked down at his feet as he wrapped his arms about Hermione's waist.
"Busted." Swaying to the song, Oliver and Hermione locked eyes with each other. They both noticed how well their bodies fitted each other. Hermione broke eye contact with Oliver and brought her hands from his neck to her chest, then leaned against him. Out of the corner of his right eye, Oliver saw Dimitrius grinning, looking at him and giving him the thumbs-up sign like a twelve-year-old who just received his first kiss from a girl older than he was.
Oliver looked away from him and rest his chin on Hermione's brunette locks as he did at lunch on the balcony.
When they got home, it was well over ten o'clock – the time they told Ginny they would be back. Oliver stopped Hermione in front of her bedroom and looked at her with dark eyes.
"…Can I kiss you?" he asked softly. Hermione's breathing changed.
"Oliver… I don't think…"
"It's okay." He reached out and caressed her cheek gently. "Good night, Hermione." He waited for her to go into her room before turning on his heel to head to his own.
A/N:
Oooookay! There you have... chapter six. Keeper's such an obnoxious puppy. I blubber his character. Mahahahahaha!
Thank ya...
Kichou
Charlie K.
be11011
RnR!