A/N: Thank you once again to all those who are sticking with this story! Life has been nuts and I admit that I'm losing track of how many days it's been since posting, but I will try to be a bit more consistent! I also want to mention that I have heard some rumblings that there's a possibility of this site no longer being supported. I will continue posting this story here, but just so you, dear readers, are aware, I'm in the process of moving my stories over to AO3. Feel free to come follow me over there, my name is FredLives. Happy reading!
While it would have been nice to get lost for days with just me and Oliver, we both had jobs to do. We were headed into three weeks of travel for away games. I had never kept a close eye on the Quidditch schedule. I knew that it was rigorous but, until I joined the team, I didn't realize we would play every team in the British and Irish league twice, once at home, and once away, with a game every week from just after New Year's all the way through June with an exception of the Easter weekend.
Oliver had gone home after breakfast to pack his things, but returned after lunch to find me in my office frantically running around.
"Hermione you've put so much time into your checklist. You know what to bring and everything is going to be just fine. The team has a lot of faith in you and you haven't let us down."
Olivers words should have been comforting. His ability to talk through situations is part of what makes him a good captain. This type of team atmosphere is so different than what I'm used to. I might be taking care of a team but I'm the only healer and that puts a lot of pressure on me.
"I know and I think I've got everything but I'd rather be over prepared than underprepared." I said as I threw a few more things into my healer bag.
Oliver took my hands in hands in his to still them. "No one is doubting you. You're going to be great. I have to ask, in your worries about being prepared for the others, did you remember to pack your own clothes and items? We're going to be gone for three weeks."
My body went rigid. He was right. In my rush to make sure I had all of my medical supplies, I had completely neglected to pack any necessities for myself.
Oliver took in my expression and chuckled. "You will be fine I promise. Why don't you let me help you pack a bag? I've gotten pretty good at it."
I tried to relax. He was right I have been preparing for this since I started. The items I needed on a day-to-day basis were obvious to me at this point and I was well prepared for major injuries. Sometimes I forget that I managed to sustain Harry, Ron and myself all those months on the run. If I can do that a traveling quidditch team shouldn't be a big stretch.
"You're right I'm being silly. I just don't want to screw up anything. I will take your help if you're offering."
He agreed and we spent the rest of the afternoon flirting back and forth as Oliver helped me pack.
We had a lovely dinner out together at a cute muggle cafe before coming back to my place to watch a movie.
"You know, when we are back in town, I'm going to take you to a movie in a theater. If you think this is cool, you're going to be blown away by the big screen."
"Consider it a date Miss Granger."
My face heated at the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes. I reached out to touch his cheek and his eyes fluttered closed. It felt good to be so close to him, almost like a magnet. Reaching out to touch him was just natural.
I moved closer, unable to resist an opportunity to have his mouth on mine. I don't know what came over me but it felt like I was too far away. Swinging my leg over his hips, I straddled his lap. Oliver groaned at the contact but he didn't push me away. His hands came to rest on my thighs squeezing gently. It was my turn to moan as I ground my hips into his.
"Merlin Hermione. I might have a lot of self-control but you're testing every ounce of it right now." I pulled back with a gasp but his hands held me in place. "No don't move. Just give me a minute."
I did as he asked, stilling my body on his.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak there was a knock on my door. "I better go get that."
Oliver ran his hand over his face, but nodded as I moved to answer the door. I was a bit surprised to see Garrett on the other side.
"Good evening, Granger. I don't mean to disturb you on a Sunday night but if you have a minute, I just want to go over the travel plans. We didn't get much chance to talk about them after practice on Friday."
"Yes of course come on in." I said hoping Oliver was decent.
As we moved towards the living room, Garrett saw Oliver. He looked between the two of us with a knowing look on his face. "My apologies if I disturbed something."
Oliver waved him off. "Never. We always have time for you. What's going on?"
"Not much. I just wanted to drop by the travel itinerary. The port key leaves at 7:00 AM sharp. Granger, I know this is your first time traveling with us and I just want to remind you professional dress is required."
"Yes Sir. I'm all set." Oliver had filled me in on the appropriate dress for travel with the team.
"Good to hear. I'll just leave this here then. There are a few scheduled interviews when we arrive. That means I expect both of you to arrive well rested and ready to go in the morning."
With that, he gave us each a meaningful look as though he expected us to be up to all sorts of shenanigans this evening then he took his leave.
I turned to Oliver. "As much as I would like to pick up where we left off maybe we should call it an early night."
Oliver agreed. "Just because we go to bed early, doesn't mean we have to go to bed alone. Can I stay?
For once a question I didn't have to think about. "Yes please."
