Too Long In The Rain
Chapter 2
After the feast Oliver walked over to Dumbledore and got his room/office assignment. Oliver thanked him then walked off to his room. When he got there he saw that his portrait was that of a knight on a white horse, he also saw that next to his was that of a great lion and a cliff in the background. He looked back at his painting and asked," Whose room is next to mine?"
The painting looked at him and said sarcasticly," Nice to meet you too, I am Sir Edgar, and you must be Oliver." Oliver nodded sheepishly at forgetting his manners, "The room that you inquired about belongs to Miss Hermione Granger."
Oliver looked back at the painting, the lion was now gone," What can you tell me about her?"
Sir Edgar sighed before saying," It's a shame, she really is a lovely woman, always nice to everyone, all the students love her, I hear them talking about her classes when they walk by."
"So what's wrong?" Asked Oliver.
"She doesn't go out sir, other than to her classes and for food. Something changed. She used to go out all the time; I knew she was going out on a date of some sort because she got dressed up and looked so beautiful, she was always smiling then." Explained Sir Edgar sadly.
"She doesn't smile?"
"Oh, she smiles, but anyone who's known her and seen her…really seen her, can tell it's a fake smile."
"Does she have any friends come over?"
"Oh, she has three friends, two male and one female…ah, Mr. Harry Potter, Mr. Ronald Weasley, and Mrs. Ginny Yarnall."
"Mrs.?"
"Yes, she married a muggle man from what Hermione has told me, a few months back, before Hermione stopped going out. Ginny doesn't visit as much any more, now it's mostly the men. Hermione loves them so."
"Doesn't she smile when they visit?"
Sir Edgar seemed a bit offended," Of course she does, she has a jolly old time, or so the three say, she isn't a rude person Mr. Wood. She's nice to everyone and everyone seems to like her."
"Don't they realize she's not really happy?" Asked Oliver wondering how thick Potter and Weasley really were.
"Of course they do, but they don't know how to go about it. They keep coming back and trying to cheer her up, they can sometimes do it but sometimes they come on her worst days."
Oliver turned to the portrait," It seems as though you care for her a great deal."
The knight nodded," And if you think I care for her, you should talk to her portrait, the lion named Fidelis, he protects her as much as she can…but those dreams."
"What dreams?"
"I don't know much, you should really talk to Fidelis."
Oliver nodded and looked back at the portrait seeing that the lion was back," I will." He walked over to Fidelis who stared down at him, making Oliver seem miniscule.
"Are you here to see Miss Hermione?" Boomed the lion.
Oliver stood strong," No actually, I'm here to talk to you in fact."
The lion raised an eyebrow," Me? Whatever for?"
"My name is Oliver Wood and I was-"
"I know who you are, and I know what you're after. Go into your common room, we'll speak more then."
"But how-"
"Just GO," roared Fidelis making Oliver step back. He composed himself, and nodded saying the password to Sir Edgar and continued into his common room.
Oliver looked around his common room and saw that his bags had been brought up.
"Over here Mr. Wood." Called Fidelis's voice and he turned around and saw an empty portrait now filled with Fidelis," Please have a seat."
Oliver sat down on his sofa and asked," Now about Hermione's dreams-"
"She has them almost every night, some nights worse than others. The worst ones are when she wakes up yelling, the least dreadful are when she wakes up after tossing and turning. I try and calm her down as best I can, but I am only a painting."
"Sir Edgar told me she used to go out a lot-" But Oliver was interrupted again.
"With her boyfriend, Viktor Krum."
"Right, what happened?"
"That, I do not know."
"She didn't tell you?"
"There are some things in this world, Mr. Wood, that we keep with us, and for us alone, for our own reasons. These reasons could be for the better, or they could destroy us. Hermione is slowly being destroyed from the inside, she needs a companion, that's where you come in."
"You want me to date her."
"Heaven no, get her to talk, that's all I want from you." He said as if the idea of Oliver dating Hermione was like using one of the unforgivable curses.
Oliver nodded then remembered," Dumbledore told me to protect her, but he didn't tell me from who."
Fidelis looked grave," That you must learn for yourself." He looked out of the frame," Hermione is calling, I must take my leave. And remember, if you hurt her, there are a lot of people you will have to answer to, people who can actually get out of a frame." With that he left. Oliver sighed and grabbed his bags taking them into his room and laying down on his bed, suddenly very tired.