Chapter Eight
"God damn it, Ginny, I'm telling you, he took the Handbook! I saw him!"
"The bloody Handbook is right – here!" Ginny whipped her hand out of her bag and shoved the Phoenix book underneath his nose. "Besides – how did you know it's the Order of the Phoenix Handbook?"
"Because I was in the Order."
"I never saw you at the meetings. I never saw you fighting the Death Eaters."
"Well, would you believe me if I said I was undercover? It would have been bad for my career, not to mention it would endanger me. Picking off a famous Quidditch Player isn't hard to do, especially if he or she is on a broomstick. You lose balance, and that's it. You're done."
"You could have told me," she muttered.
"I couldn't see anyone but Lupin and McGonagall. I used to be able to see Tonks, but then she and Lupin broke up. She married your brother and I couldn't talk to her anymore. I'm pretty sure she told Charlie, though."
"This is stupid. Why would Blaise take it in the first place?"
"THINK, GINNY! Blaise – Slytherin. Slytherin – Voldemort. Voldemort – Death Eaters."
"He doesn't have the Mark," Ginny pointed out. "You saw him swimming in the lake."
"He could have hidden it with a simple spell," Oliver countered, folding his arms across his chest. "Stop seeing him, or I take the matter to Lupin, who will probably take it to McGonagall."
No business with the Order, my ass.
"And don't forget rule one-hundred-and-fourteen. Forbidden to love," Oliver said tersely, ignoring Keeper before slamming Ginny's door.
"YOU'RE A HYPOCRITE!" she screamed after him. "URGING HERMIONE INTO BEING WITH YOU!"
"I'm letting Hermione decide for herself! Do not bring her into this!"
"IT'S STILL GOING AGAINST RULE ONE-HUNDRED-AND-FOURTEEN!"
"I'M NOT ASKING HER TO FUCKING LOVE ME!" Oliver snapped viciously, finally cracking. Ginny had come out of her room and had a few stray tears down her cheeks. "Ginny, you've gone in too deep."
"I know what love is, Oliver. It's when you see the person, and you can't breathe. It's when you're overcome with happiness and nothing else around you matters except you and the person. That's how I feel when I'm around Blaise and nothing can stop it."
"Are you sure that's how Blaise feels when he's around you?" Oliver shot back. "Has he told you that he loves you? Has he told you that he'd do anything for you, even die?" When Ginny didn't answer, Oliver scoffed and continued down the stairs. "I didn't think so." When he got to the bottom of the staircase, Hermione was there with her arms crossed, looking deep in thought. "Hey," Oliver said softly.
"Ginny's right, Oliver." Oliver blinked.
"Sorry?"
"She's right. I'm going against the Order's rules with this… I can't, Oliver…" Oliver tightened his jaw and turned to the hallway.
"I'm in the kitchen. Dinner's going to be ready in an hour." When Hermione followed him, she saw him taking a piece of meat and chopping it with a big cleaver mercilessly with a grim expression plastered on his face.
"Oliver?"
"Mm hmm?" He took another slab of pork and practically threw the knife through it.
"You understand, don't you?" Chop.
"Of course." Chop.
"Need any help with dinner?"
"No." Chop.
"Oh… okay…" Hermione then left, feeling hurt. If Oliver really had been in the Order of the Phoenix, he should have just let it go.
"You know…" Hermione turned back to look at Oliver. "You really didn't go by the rules either with Viktor. Now look. He's a Death Eater and you're pregnant with his child. I don't see what the problem is. I'm an ex-Order, he's a Death Eater." Oliver took the pan of pork and carried it outside to the barbeque pit. "That's how I'm picturing Ginny's relationship with Blaise. She can find someone better than him. We're having The Weasley boys over, by the way, so don't bother cleaning up the living room."
"You know me too well," Hermione said bluntly. Oliver chuckled half-heartedly and ignited the barbeque. He leaned back against a tree and sighed. "Why are you barbequing instead of using magic?"
"I never cook with magic. Hermione, it's been two weeks since… since I kissed you. Haven't you even thought about it?" Hermione watched the fire spread through the grill.
"All the time," she said quietly. "I really don't think I'm ready for another relationship, Oliver." He looked at the ground. "I really like you, but…"
"It's okay." Oliver pushed off of the tree and went to put the meat on the grill. When Hermione opened her mouth again, Oliver laughed and interrupted. "I told you, it's okay." He smiled at her. Hermione made notice that it seemed forced and looked out to the ocean.
"Your house is in a beautiful location."
"Yeah. That's mainly the reason why I got this house in particular. I usually walk through the woods over there to think, or just sit by the edge of my dock. It really is a beautiful place. People are just caught up in too many affairs to see it." He took off his shirt and tossed it away. He stepped into the lake and sat down in the wet sand.
"The food's going to catch fire." Oliver looked over his shoulder and smirked.
"Okay, so maybe I use a little magic." Hermione kicked off her sandals and approached Oliver with her skirt pulled up to her knees and crouched down next to him.
"You do understand, though, right?"
"I understand more than anyone," Oliver replied, looking at the purple-pink-orange-and-red sunset. "I've never told anyone about this before. Lupin and McGonagall are the only ones that know." Oliver took a deep breath before continuing his story.
"It was last year. I was already suspected as part of the Order, but I went on with my daily doings, including taking my sister out to Diagon Alley every week and pretending I didn't know anything that was going on. I… I was actually captured one day. They forced it out of me, who I cared for the most in my life. I couldn't fight it."
"Who'd you say? Katie?" Hermione inquired. Oliver looked up, startled.
"No. Just because she was my girlfriend didn't make her the most important person in my life. I said my little sister… Elizabeth. After that, they started asking me about the Order. I told them I didn't know anything." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "McGonagall and Lupin came and erased all their memories. One got away. He kidnapped my sister when she went back to Hogwarts during a Hogsmeade trip. He killed her and hid the body. I found some blood before, but no Elizabeth. I had to analyze the sample before it could be confirmed. Lupin found the body in the Forbidden Forest, near the outskirts of Hogsmeade. I found the kidnapper the day after Lupin found Elizabeth."
"Who was it? What happened to him?"
"Dolohov. Dead. I killed him. I quit the Order the next day. Lupin and McGonagall didn't question why I did it. The reason was obvious." Oliver stood up. "I better check on the food." He watched as Hermione walked back to the house and looked back to the water. Off of the dock, he dove in to clear his thoughts. The barbeque was magick'ed, after all. From the lake, Oliver spotted Blaise's car coming into the driveway. He swam quickly to shore and sprinted towards the house.
"ZABINI!" Blaise saw him coming and turned around. "You've got a whole lot of nerve, coming back here again." Blaise just looked at him with no expression on his face. "I know you're a Death Eater."
"So turn me in," Blaise hissed.
"I used the Time Turner to the time when you came into the house last week," Oliver continued, ignoring him. "I saw you and Willie talking and I saw you taking a book from Ginny's room. Wanna explain?"
"I would really love to, but I can't."
"No, I meant do you wanna explain why you haven't killed me, her or Hermione yet? Wanna explain why you're dating her?" Blaise looked around the house, then back at Oliver and sighed.
"Oliver, you know how it is to have a loved one taken from you, right? Don't look so surprised how I know – I… I've been a Death Eater since my seventh year. That's part of the reason. Now, listen, I really like Ginny. If you want to help me out a little, go to Atlantis today or Saturday, five o'clock to two thirty A.M. You know where it is, right?" Oliver stared at Blaise suspiciously.
"How do I know this isn't a trap or something?"
"Because we have something mutual. Your sister, my siblings. Come into the backdoor in the Alleyway," Blaise added quietly, taking another look around. He got back into his car and turned on the engine.
"Wait – aren't you taking Ginny out tonight?" Blaise shook his head and gave a small smile.
"What I just told you… that's what I came here for. See you, cuddle muffin." With that, he drove off. Oliver laughed lightly and looked up to Ginny's window.
At nine o'clock, Oliver apparated to a Muggle Alley behind Atlantis and saw Blaise taking his smoke break.
"You smoke?" Blaise looked up abruptly, sighed and threw the cigarette to the ground.
"Started recently," he replied and took out another one. Oliver walked over to him, yanked it out of his mouth and tossed it into the garbage can.
"It's not good for you." Blaise looked at Oliver strangely and stood up.
"Okay, the information I'm telling you is strictly Death Eater confidential. You need to take it to the Order." Oliver stiffened.
"I'm not in the Order." Blaise furrowed his eyebrows.
"What? But… last year…"
"I quit after the incident with my sister," Oliver said. "I haven't been in it since. Am I still suspected?" Blaise shrugged.
"I don't think so. But do this for Ginny. If you love Ginny, you'll do this." Oliver looked around and breathed out heavily.
"For Ginny," he muttered. "Okay, what is it?"
"Not here." Oliver followed Blaise to the club and into the employee's washroom. "People watch me. I can't say anything in the open. That's why I was so… iffy at your place. Other Death Eaters could have been around the area," Blaise explained. "See, I'm not a Death Eater by will. I, uh, sort of got forced to do it, and I'm pretty rebellious against them, so they don't trust me at all." He ran a hand through his curly dark brown hair. "They've got my brother and my sister and they want the names of people in the Order in exchange."
"So you've basically got no choice if you want your brother or sister back?"
"Exactly. If I give them the names of people in the Order by December thirty-first, they won't hurt or kill Mariel or Joseph."
"How old are they?" Oliver asked. Blaise shook his head.
"Joseph just turned fourteen last month… he wasn't here for his birthday… he was in the same year as your sister." Blaise let out a soft chuckle. "He had an obsessive crush on her, you know." Oliver smiled.
"She talked about a guy she liked. She said it was hard, because it was 'forbidden'. So it was either a Slytherin, or a best friend's boyfriend. Maybe it was your brother. It doesn't matter now, though…" Blaise looked around the small bathroom again.
"Mariel's ten. She shouldn't be with the Death Eaters in the first place. She should have been with me. Both of them should have."
"What happened?"
"My mother's recent boyfriend is a Death Eater. He told me to go out with my friends and he'd bring them to the beach. Me, being the idiotic shit head I am, listened to him. When I got home, my mum's dead, the kids are gone and no sign of Quinton anywhere." Blaise leaned against the sink.
"My dad fell off of his broom in a freak accident a couple years ago. My mum died soon after Elizabeth. I think it was too much for her."
"What happened to your dad wasn't a freak accident," Blaise blurted out. "He was suspected in the Order as well."
"Oh, Jesus Christ!" Oliver yelled out and punched the wall in anger. "Everything just leads back to the fucking Order! Why was your sister killed? The Order. Why was your father killed? THE ORDER. Why is your mother dead? Because her youngest child and husband died because of the fucking Order."
"Calm down," Blaise consoled and pushed off against the cabinet underneath the sink. "Are you going to tell them or what?"
"I'm going to tell them. I'm going to fucking tell them to shove it up their –"
"I meant the little bit about the conflict of my brother and sister against the Order," Blaise said in exasperation.
"Oh. Yeah, I will. Just don't… don't hurt Ginny. I know how important siblings are. Is… that all?" Blaise nodded his head, unlocked the door and stepped out followed by Oliver.
"Don't forget."
"I won't. Stop smoking."
"Can't promise you anything," Blaise said with a smile. "I've gotta get back to work. See you."
"Yeah." Oliver stepped back into the Alley and apparated back to his house.
"Where'd you go?" Oliver spun around and spotted Ginny sitting on the couch, watching T.V.
"Out," Oliver replied.
"Where?"
"Out."
"With who?"
"People." Oliver took a bottle of water from the fridge and, before Ginny could say anything else, apparated to Hogsmeade.
When he got to the Castle, he remembered that school had started already and kids were scattered in the hallway. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was just five minutes before curfew and made his way to Gryffindor Tower.
"Mr. Wood!" the Fat Lady sang. Oliver nodded his head.
"I don't have the password, Miss. My brother's in there, Michael Wood, sixth year?"
"Oh, very well." The portrait slid open. Oliver smiled in thanks to the Fat Lady and stepped through.
"Oliver!" Michael stood up off the couch, letting his girlfriend drop to the floor. "Sorry, Ashley…"
"It's okay. Go say hi to your brother." As they exchanged handshakes, Oliver cut to the chase.
"I'm not here to see you, Mike… no offence."
"None taken. What's up?"
"I happen to receive all of your Detention letters. What's McGonagall's latest password?"
"Is this all you need?"
"Yeah."
"Kill Snape."
"Are you serious?" Michael laughed and nodded. "Okay… walk with me there, I want to talk to you. It's been, like, forever."
"Yeah, well, you don't visit the Clearwater's anymore." Michael gestured to Ashley, who was talking to Shane Prewitt, a great-nephew of Mrs. Weasley's. The two of them, Oliver and Mike, walked out of the portrait hole and down the corridors.
"How was your summer, Mike?"
"Kind of hard… you weren't around to laugh with. Elizabeth wasn't around to tease. Mum wasn't around to annoy. Dad… well, I'm used to dad not being there. It was still pretty hard to believe, though… there were five of us. Now there's… now there's only two." Oliver nodded and looked at his brother. They were the same height, 5'10.
"You're almost done with Hogwarts. How's the Gobstones coming?" Michael, unlike Oliver, was more into intellectual games like Wizard's Chess or Gobstones. He was trying to be Eileen Prince's top scores.
"I'm nearly there," Michael said. "It's hard. Kill Snape." The gargoyle leapt aside and Michael looked at Oliver. "You good from here?"
"Of course. Come back from Christmas, okay? I'm at my… big… house-thing. Can't really call it a house, it's pretty big…" Michael smiled and clasped his older brother on the shoulder.
"Can I bring Ashley?"
"You've been with her the whole summer!"
"Don't you have another girlfriend yet?"
"I'm working on it…"
"Who?"
"Granger."
"The author?"
"Yeah."
"Whew, she's hot."
"Get out of here, Mike."
A/N:
Sorry… I had a block…
Thank you…
Kichou
amrawo
Charlie K.
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xohugzxkissezox7
CrazyinLuv185
soopaflie
SpikesDreamer: Great Oliver/Hermione you've got going!