"Yeah...of
course" Oliver said and stepped aside so that my grandpa could
pass. He eyed me as he entered and stood with his back to me.
"I
already know everything" He said silently.
I looked at Oliver
and looked down. He walked over to me and squeezed my hand quickly.
Dumbledore, I can-"
"I heard everything" He
said. "Im not here to judge you, in fact, Im here to give you
some advice" He turned around and walked over to me.
"I
think that you should go to sleep now, Alexia" I nodded and
began walking out. I didnt want to say anything, I felt like I had
let my grandfather down.
"Wait" Oliver said stopping
me.
"I need to say something to your grandfather and I want
you to be here" I didnt want to stay anymore. "I know that
you may not agree with this, but I want you to know that I love Ally"
I really wanted to cry. He was sticking up for me and it was the
sweetest most romantic thing ever.
"I know this Oliver, I
just need to speak with you and Ill speak with Alexia tomorrow
morning, but I think we all need to get some sleep" He said and
gave me a look that clearly meant Time to leave So I turned with out
looking at Oliver and headed for my room. I could hear my
grandfathers steps behind me. Thank god it was Friday!
"What?"
I groaned and covered my head with the sheets. I didnt want to get
up.
"Ally, get up, were going out for a picnic"I groaned
again.
"Im tired, ok?"
"No, get up!"
So
I did, after Hermione and Stacie pulled me out of bed, that is.
"Im
up, happy?" They nodded.
"Come on, itll be fun. Why are
you in such a bad mood anyway?"
I waved my hand in dismissal
and followed them. Harry and Ron carried the picnic basket. We
actually made them. They insisted on using magic but we thought itd
be fun. Besides they looked cute carrying their girlfriends
stuff.
"So, where were you last night?" Hermione asked
in a hushed whisper.
"I was taking a walk" I hated lying
but I didnt want to tell her what happened.
"Oh" She
replied.
"Come on, get in with us!"I shook my head
and took a bite of my sandwich.
"Not right now, maybe later"
I said and took off my shirt. I had, of course, a bathing suit under.
Ron, Harry, Stacie and Hermione were all in the lake splashing each
other.
"I wish my life was that simple" I murmured to
myself.
The sound of steps startled me and I turned around to see
none other than Pansy with her two other Slytherin friends.
"Look
what we have here, Alexia" She smirked at me.
"Hi"
I said trying to be nice, I wasnt in the mood to argue with
anyone.
"Hello, can we join you "I could see that
devilish grin she had on. Something bad was coming and I knew
it.
"Look, Pansy, Im not in the mood, ok?" I took
another bite of my sandwich and looked away from them.
"Why
are you not in the mood? I mean, Dracos been looking all over for
you."
I knew where this was going. Why didnt I see it
before? Pansy was clearly jealous that I was going to be the lucky
girl to marry Draco.
"I guess you found out" I replied
coolly.
"Yeah, I did, and Ive heard that you dont want to
marry him? Now that is clearly the stupidest thing Ive ever heard.
Who wouldnt want to marry someone as handsome as Draco?"
I
didnt answer. Sure, Draco, was handsome but he wasnt Oliver.
"Leave
me alone, Pansy" I said and shook my hair from my face.
"I
dont even know what he sees in you. What do they all see in you?"
Was she saying that Draco was actually interested in me?
"What
are you talking about, Pansy?"
"Draco, hes completely
taken by you. Hes been really happy. He couldnt even sleep last night
because he says he cant wait until you get married"
"Were
just friends" I replied and stood up.
"Thats not what I
think, but dont worry I wont tell anyone that you seem to have a
certain interest in Professor Wood, because we all know he would
never like you. So, let me give you some advice, just stop dreaming
too high."
"Youre just mad because Draco likes me and
not you" I snapped. What was she thinking telling me all this
shit?
"Whatever, all I know is that youre not going to
marry, Draco, because unlike you, I care about him, and he was going
to ask me out before you came along "
"you can have
him" I murmured and began taking off my jeans.
"Then
why dont you call off the wedding?"She asked and looked at her
friends.
"Why doesnt he?" I asked and began walking
toward the lake.
I saw Pansy glare and walk away. I almost felt
bad for her. But not really.
"Alright, you finally decided to
join us!" Ron said and smiled at me
"yep" I replied
and swan under water letting the water brush my hair.
"We're
going to go and get more food, do you want to come?" Harry
asked.
"Nah, Im just going to swim a little, hurry up Im
hungry"
They all nodded and walked away hand in hand. I lay
there floating in the fresh lake thinking about the only thing that
really mattered to me. Oliver.
I was always the kind of person
that didnt believe love could take up all your thoughts. Boy was I
wrong!
"Ally"
His soft voice filled my ears. For a minute I thought I was
really just imagining it but then I looked up to see Oliver standing
not too far, with his hands in his pockets.
"Oliver" I
said and swam out of there. I shook my head to get my hair a bit less
wet and saw Oliver staring at me. I could tell he was trying not to.
You look.pretty I smiled and blushed. He was such a gentleman.
"How
did you know I was here?"He smiled a mischevious smile.
"I
havent talked to my grandfather yet" I replied and pushed my wet
hair back.
"I talked to him a few minutes ago. Thats why I
came. To tell you what he told me."
I waited and stood
there. He was really tall, ok, not too tall, but without my shoes on
I felt shorter. Not that I wear high heel shoes or anything but he
still looked tall.
"What did he say?" I asked with
nerves filling my blood.
"Well" He looked around and
then he picked me up with his strong arms and twirled me.
"Did
he really say that?"
"Yes, and he said that he wants to
talk to you about something important"
"I wonder what
it is" I said and placed my arms around his neck. He still held
me up His arms wrapped around my back. He finally put me back but I
didnt let go of his neck. I realized then that whenever Oliver was
close to me nothing mattered. All those bad thoughts seemed so far
away, even my engagement to Draco seemed like some nightmare. Oliver
was the real thing. He grabbed my arms and pulled them away from his
neck. He laced his fingers in mine and looked at me. I knew he loved
me. The way he looked at me. I could see it in his eyes.
"Oliver"
I said his name because I liked the way it sounded on my lips. He
moved closer to me and kissed my cheek.
"I better go" He
whispered. He was telling himself because when he had me close, I
knew, he couldnt really think.
"Dont"
I said and
began pushing him back until we had entered the forest. I kept
pushing back until I felt him stop. His back to the tree, now. I
looked back to see that the lake was far away.
"Ally, I
dont-"
"Oliver, tell me something"He nodded and
placed his forehead against mine. " When did you realize that
you had fallen in love with me?"
He smiled then, the most
tender smile in the world and stroked my cheek with his hand.
"When
I saw you with Draco, It made me so jealous I wanted nothing more
than to make him stay away from you"
"I knew I loved
you from the first time I saw you"
I know it sounds pretty
retarded to people, it wouldve sounded kind of sick if I had heard it
from someone else. But its true love does things, it makes you say
things you never thought youd say, it makes you do things that youve
only thought of doing but never had the guts to do. Love is truly
that magical. He continued to smile until I heard voices. "I
better go" He said and broke away from me.
"Oliver?"
He turned.
"Yeah?" I didnt answer instead I walked
quickly to him and kissed him gently. He broke free and looked
down.
"Go talk to your grandfather" He said and
apparated.
I
stood there thinking of how weird he had just acted.
"Ok"I
said to myself and walked back to the lake. I grabbed my towel and
peeked behind Harry.
"Boo!" He jumped,
"Ally, we
were looking for you" He said and breathed in sigh of
relief.
"Yeah, I know, I wanted to trick you guys" He
smiled and pointed at the food.
"We got the food"
"Thank god, Im starving" I said and walked over to the
food. We made our way back to the castle a little after sunset.
"Im
going to take a shower" I said and walked into the bathrooms.
"Im going to sleep, Im wiped" Stacie said and jumped on
her bed. I rolled my eyes at her and took a shower. I was going to
talk to my grandfather after the shower but I felt nervous about it.
Something didnt seem right. I had a bad feeling about it.
I
knocked quietly. "Come on in, Alexia" My palms were sweaty
with nervousness.
"Hi" I said shily and entered..
"Sit
down please" He said and smiled. It gave me some time to breath
but his face went back to serious again.
"I talked to
Oliver."
He stated. I nodded and rubbed my knees. "I
told you that I would be here for you when you needed me. Why didnt
you tell me that you and Oliver-"
"We werent, grandpa"
He nodded.
"Then you know that this is not extremely good
news?" I nodded.
"I know you love him, and he loves you.
That I cannot stand against but there are some things that you are
going to have to choose between."
"Youre talking about
my engagement with Draco?" He nodded.
"I know that you
dont like him and it seems unfair that you have to marry him. I tried
talking to your father but he answered that you knew why you had to
and that you would choose on your own"
. I swallowed. This
whole-chose-between-love or your mother-thing was really becoming
that biggest burden ever.
"Do you want to tell me what thats
about?I have a feeling there is more to the story" I closed my
eyes.
"I dont think I should. Just trust me when I tell you
that my father told you that truth and that Im going to make my
choice" I replied. I didnt want to cry I didnt think I had a
reason to but still I wanted to.
"You shouldnt have to
choose, you should do what you want" He replied and kneeled
down."Do what you want not what everyone wants you to do"
He said and patted my knee.
"Its not that simple" I
replied and swallowed the knot of tears that was forming in the back
of my throat.
"Tell me what it is your father told you"
My grandfather said quietly.
"I cant" Im not even sure
why I hadnt told him.
"Ok, Alexia, but remember what I told
you"I stood then and nodded.
"I have to go, bye" I
got out of there and hurried back to the common room. All I wanted
was to go to sleep and forget everything. I ran so quick I ended up
tripping and falling face down. I groaned and stood up. I knew where
I wanted to go and so I did. I was doing what I wanted.
"Ally,
what are you doing here?"
"Oliver, I need you" I
threw my self at him and let his warm body hug me. He closed the door
and hugged me tight.
