In the Kitchen
"What are we going to do with them?" Gwen's mother asked into her coffee cup.
"I don't know, Mary," Mrs. Wood replied. "We should've seen this coming."
"I know." Mary sighed heavily. "We left them alone too often, trusted them too much. Did we really think nothing would happen?"
Maura ran her fingers through her hair. "They've been friends so long. They're always together. I don't know what we were thinking. I know we always thought it would be cute if they got together eventually, but this..."
"At least they tried to be responsible about it." Mary lightly touched the leather pouch.
"But that's no excuse. Didn't we raise them with morals?"
"Aye, we did." They both exhaled noisily. "We told them it was for people in love. People who truly care about each other."
"But they're only sixteen!" Mrs. Pennington cried. "They can't possibly know what that's like."
"Can't they?" Maura questioned, meeting Mary's eye. "That bloody bond they share..." They looked down into their mugs again.
In the Living Room
"How did they find out?" Oliver asked after several minutes of silence. Gwen exhaled slowly, controlling her breathing.
"I left the smartweed on the counter," she said grimly.
"The what?" Gwen shook her head and leaned against the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling.
"The contraceptive I used. I read about it in the book I had when you came into the library yesterday."
"Oh. Contraceptive? I didn't even think of that." Well, duh. "Do you think we made a mistake?" Gwen turned her head to look at Oliver.
"I have no regrets," she said firmly, "about last night or this morning." She couldn't help but grin, and he returned the gesture.
"Neither do I." He reached over to hold her hand.
"It's settled then. No regrets, no harm done. Yet. But what are our mothers thinking?"
"Your father's going to kill me, if mine doesn't do it first."
"What are they going to do to us?"
In the Kitchen
"What are we going to do with them?" Mary asked again. "Do we tell their fathers?"
"I don't think they need to die for what they've done," Mrs. Wood chuckled. "But they don't need to know that their fathers don't know."
"They can sweat over that as part of their punishment," Mary agreed. "But how do we punish this?"
"Separating them won't do any good. We can't keep them apart forever. Once they get back to school, there will be nothing we can do to keep them away from each other." Maura thought for a moment before smiling at her friend. "And it's not like they've done something we never did."
"They don't need to know that. Merlin, there's nothing we can do to stop them from doing it again. And any punishment we dole out will be completely ineffective."
"I guess there's only one thing we can do."
In the Living Room
Gwen and Oliver stared at the ceiling, any conversation between them faded away into silence.
"Gwen!"
"Oliver!"
They rose to meet the summons, trudging into the kitchen of doom. Oliver walked in first with Gwen close behind. Not knowing quite what to do, they stood together in front of their mothers at the table. Gwen's hands were clasped in front of her and Oliver's were shoved in his pockets. Gwen wished she could stare at the floor, but her mother's eyes held her attention, her face a mask of emotion.
"Which of you will take responsibility for your actions?" she asked dangerously.
"It was my-" Oliver began after a moment, but Gwen placed a hand on his arm to silence him.
"It was a mutual decision," she said, stiffening her posture. She was not going to let him take the blame.
"You must have done some planning." Mary dangled the leather pouch of smartweed in front of her.
"No, not really." Gwen didn't want to tell her that she thought about it before, or that Pinkie helped her.
"How did you get this?" Maura asked, her tone a little gentler. Gwen closed her mouth tightly and lifted her chin slightly. They waited patiently, looking from Gwen to Oliver. "All right, if that's how you want to be."
"We've discussed this thoroughly, and have reached a decision about your punishment," Gwen's mother continued. "First, you will be grounded until you return to school." Neither teen blinked at that, though Gwen expected it to be longer than three weeks.
"Second," Maura said, "as part of your grounding, you will not see each other until September first." Gwen's eyes widened and she half turned her head before whipping it back. She had not been away from Oliver that long since they met. Even when she stayed with her grandmother over the summer, Gwen came home almost every weekend to see him.
"Yes, I thought that might have some affect on you," her mother drawled. "We'll discuss this more at home. You're to go straight to your room. Now."
"You too, Oliver." Mrs. Wood gave her son a pointed look. Gwen and Oliver left the kitchen and headed to the fireplace, preparing to floo. Instead of going straight home, he accompanied Gwen to her house.
"Three weeks!" she exclaimed.
"Three weeks," Oliver repeated solemnly.
"That's a really long time!"
"That's a really long time."
Gwen removed her hands from the roots of her hair and turned around to face him. She put her hands on the back of his neck as his moved to her waist. Her right hand caressed the side of his face.
"I think you'll need to shave soon," she told Oliver quietly. He slowly removed her hand and lowered his head to kiss her. It started soft and sweet, a sad, goodbye kiss. Gwen tugged at his lip to open his mouth, making the kiss more passionate. He lowered his hands a couple of inches and pulled her hips against his. "Merlin, I'm going to miss that," Gwen said when they took a break for air.
"Three weeks without it..." he kissed her again, crushing her lips. Finally, she gently pushed him away.
"You'd better go. They could pop in any moment." Gwen quickly kissed him one last time before they both ran off to their rooms. This is going to be difficult.
A few minutes after Gwen reached her room, she heard her mother arrive downstairs. She lay spread-eagled on her bed, staring at the ceiling as her walls cloud over. She knew Oliver was in his room, so she turned on her side to face his house, eventually falling asleep.
Some time later, her mother woke her for dinner.
"Gwen, your father is home. It's time for dinner," Mary said while shaking Gwen gently. Her eyes snapped open at the mention of her father, and she sat up quickly. She mentally reached out for Oliver, who seemed to be in his kitchen and felt like he was sweating bullets. Mr. Wood must be home. Sighing heavily, Gwen reluctantly followed her mother downstairs.
"Hi, beebs," her father said in greeting, making Gwen smile at the use of her childhood nickname. He looked up from the Daily Prophet so she could kiss his cheek. He seemed to be in a cheerful mood, as though he knew nothing about her actions of the night before.
"Hello, Da. How was work?" Gwen tested the mood gingerly, taking her seat at the table, her father to her left. Her mother set the food on the table and her father passed it along to Gwen. She hoped the more food on her plate, the less she would have to talk.
"Somebody is hungry," David chuckled.
"I haven't really eaten today," Gwen replied, stuffing a forkful of green beans into her mouth.
"How was the birthday party?" he asked, just as she shoveled in a heap of mashed potatoes. She managed not to choke, darting her eyes to her mother and back to her plate.
"Oh, it was fun," Gwen said after swallowing her food. "Fred and George were setting off stink bombs. Lots of people in the pool."
"Did Oliver like his present?" She nearly did choke that time, and took a sip of milk before answering.
"He didn't want any presents."
Gwen avoided her mother's eyes throughout the meal, mostly looking down at her plate. At the end, she helped clear the table before returning to her room. Oliver seemed relieved, so she figured his father didn't know either.
Gwen spent the next seven days trying to adjust to life without Oliver. She also had to stay inside, looking out her window at the beautiful weather, though her walls remained a perpetual gray. Mid afternoon, she got an unexpected visit from her mother.
"Gwen, we need to talk."
"Sure." She shut off her stereo and sat on the edge of her bed. She had been waiting for this.
"I think you know what this is about," Mary said, taking a seat next to Gwen. She nodded once. "I'm very disappointed in you; I'm sure you know that." Gwen nodded again, keeping her eyes down. Yes, meek was best right now. "But at least you tried to be responsible about it."
"I'm not a complete idiot," Gwen mumbled, but she made no response despite Gwen's surety of being heard.
"I know we can't stop you from doing it again," her mother admitted. She was being very calm about the whole thing. "I've thought about this a lot. Maura, too. No, your father's don't know." That confirmed Gwen's suspicions.
Gwen idly swung her legs, still looking at the floor and wondering if she was supposed to say anything.
"As much as I'd like to think you won't, I know you'll do it again the first chance you get," Mary continued. What kind of girl does she think I am? "I know they don't have this sort of class at Hogwarts, but I'd rather do this myself anyway."
Gwen put her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Merlin," she groaned. "I so do not want to talk about this with you."
"Well, you brought it on yourself." Her mother seemed delighted to embarrass her. Over the next hour, she explained various forms of magical contraception, telling which were most effective and which to avoid. She left Gwen absolutely mortified with a kiss good night.
At the Wood House
"Sean?" Maura called to her husband.
"Yes, dear?" He walked into the kitchen to see what his wife wanted.
"I think you need to have a talk with Oliver."
"About what?" he asked, and she gave him a pointed look. He groaned. "I hate those. Besides, I already talked to him about that."
"Well, you need to talk to him again. Because," she went on before he could ask why, "he's getting older."
"What am I supposed to say?"
"I don't know. Whatever you were told about... that kind of thing. Keeping your hands to yourself and whatnot."
Sean gave her an odd look, shrugged, and headed to his son's room. He knocked on the door before poking his head in.
"Oliver? We need to talk." Sean closed the door behind him. Oliver had been dreading this for the past week, sweating over it at night. He tried to remain calm.
"All right, what about?" he inquired, seemingly unruffled.
"I think you know what it's about," his father said, not quite meeting his eyes. Oliver's grip on the edge of the bed tightened. "It's been a while, but I think it's time for another father-son Talk." He exhaled slowly. "I remember how embarrassed I used to get when my father tried to talk to me. I'll make this as quick and painless as I can."
Oliver relaxed a little bit. Surely, his father would have said something by now if he knew about that night with Gwen.
"Son, I know you're getting older and more... mature." Sean cleared his throat. "The teenage years are difficult, very hormonal, and sometimes you get certain... urges... to... do certain things... to girls..." He looked around the room at everything but Oliver, whose face was beet red.
"Well, what I'm trying to say is... make sure you really love your girl before you..." he made an odd gesture with his hands, "take her to bed. Sometimes you may think you're ready, but you really have to be sure, or you'll regret it later." By now, Sean was almost as red as his son.
"Oh, uh... one more thing..." Oliver could see his father struggling for words, rubbing the back of his neck. "If you're going to... do it... do it safely. You don't want to get a girl pregnant before you're married. So either keep it in your pants, or be careful what you're doing."
"Yes, sir," Oliver finally said. They stared at the floor in silence for a few moments before Sean patted Oliver's back and left the room. Oliver heaved a great sigh of relief.
Gwen didn't see Oliver again until September first at Platform 9 3/4, and she had been going absolutely crazy. It had been the most boring three weeks of her life. Oliver was at least allowed outside in his back yard to keep in shape for Quidditch, but Gwen had to stay inside.
They stood on the Platform with their parents between them, and had yet to say anything to each other. Gwen thought it was best that their mothers think they had learned a lesson, but they both itched to touch each other. At 10:40, they said goodbye to their parents.
"Bye, Mum. Bye, Da," Gwen said, hugging them both. They each kissed her cheek.
"We'll see you at Christmas!" her father said. "Have fun and learn lots!"
Gwen and Oliver left to board the train, still quiet. "Behave!" their mothers called after them.
They quickly find an empty compartment and ducked into it. Already in their uniforms, they put their trunks away hurriedly.
"Oh, Merlin, I've missed you!" Gwen exclaimed, throwing her arms around Oliver.
"It's been hell," he agreed, falling back onto the seat. Gwen put her knees up on either side of him and straddled his lap as she kissed him roughly. His hands purposefully moved from her hips to her bottom to make her grind against him when he squeezed. "I love it when you do that," he gasped.
Gwen grinned and ground against him again, making him moan, before reattaching her lips to his. His right hand moved to her thigh, preparing to slide under her skirt. Suddenly the compartment door slid open and they whipped their heads to the side to see the intruders.
"Hey, guys," one of the twins said.
"Fred. George," Oliver said shortly. The twins sat across from them, apparently oblivious to what the young lovers were doing before they intruded.
"How was the rest of your summer?" Fred asked.
Gwen turned back to look at Oliver. "Get rid of them," she breathed in his ear, expressing her urgency through the bond.
"We've been grounded the past three weeks," Oliver told them thickly. "And we haven't been allowed to see each other."
"Oh." George seemed to wise up to the way Gwen was sitting on Oliver. "We'll just leave then. C'mon, Fred."
"Huh?" Fred grunted, looking confused. "Oh. Right. We'll just go find Lee." After what seemed like forever, Gwen reached over and locked the frosted glass door, pulling down the blinds. The train pulled out of the station, steaming toward Hogwarts.
"Now then, where were we?" she asked mischievously. "Ah, yes." She kissed Oliver again, sliding her hands down to his belt buckle.
"Merlin, I don't know what I did to you, Gwen," Oliver said, "but I am not sorry for it." He shoved his tongue into her mouth.
Roughly forty-five minutes later, Gwen straightened her skirt and made sure her shirt was as neat as she could make it.
"Where did you throw my belt?" Oliver inquired, looking on the floor.
"Um... there it is." Gwen pointed to the luggage rack on the other side before climbing onto the seat to retrieve her brush from her trunk. She needed to get rid of her I-just-had-sex hair. Before she started, Oliver reached over and adjusted a piece of hair that had flipped over.
"Thanks."
Oliver opened the window to let fresh air in, and once they both looked presentable he unlocked the door.
"I hope no one heard us," Gwen said nervously.
"I don't think so. You were pretty quiet that time," Oliver replied with a wink, making her blush.
"I can't help it," she mumbled. He walked over and wrapped his left arm around her waist and ran his right hand through her hair.
"I don't mind." That sparkle shone in his eyes again.
"Oh, no you don't."
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked with feigned innocence.
"You know perfectly well what I mean. I don't want to risk it again on the train, so you'll just have to wait." He pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, and sat down. "You're so cute when you do that," Gwen laughed and ruffled his hair. For a while they simply sat and stared out the window at the passing countryside with Gwen's head on Oliver's shoulder.
"What if I put a silencing charm on you until we're done?" Oliver suggested suddenly.
"No! You'll just have to wait," she admonished, trying not to smile. "Don't worry; we'll make up for lost time." They both grinned and there was a knock on the compartment door. Gwen stood and slid it open, expecting the plump witch with the cart. Instead, an unwanted visitor appeared in the doorway.
"Well, well, well. I certainly didn't expect to find you in here, Wood."
"What do you want, Flint?" Oliver demanded through clenched teeth.
"Go back to your cave and leave us alone," Gwen said. "Your father should have taken you home when he got into the castle last Halloween."
He ignored her comment, maybe because he didn't understand it. "I'm in the compartment next door and I heard some... strange noises earlier. Never thought they'd be coming from you. How much did you pay for your little whore, Wood?"
Oliver rose to his feet quickly, completely enraged, and started rolling up his sleeves. "Get out, Flint," he ordered in a dangerous tone.
"Maybe I could have a go at her later," he persisted with a grin for his cronies, exposing his nasty teeth. There has got to be some troll blood in him. Without warning, Oliver drew his fist back and punched Flint in the jaw. The Slytherin Quidditch Captain tried to retaliate, but Oliver blocked his swing and punched him in the mouth. Flint put a hand to his mouth, feeling his split lip. He reached for his wand, but Oliver didn't have his handy.
Gwen stepped forward and put a hand on Oliver's shoulder, pulling her necklace out from under her sweater and gripping the charm. Flint yelled a curse, but it bounced of off Oliver and returned to it caster. He yelped as boils appeared all over his face and hands, trying to cover himself with his cloak. Other students poked their heads into the corridor, but Gwen closed the door. She turned around to see Oliver pacing the tiny compartment.
"Oliver?"
"He had no right to say that about you."
"Oliver-"
"Where does he get off calling you a-"
"Oliver-"
"If that no good, troll-faced... Slytherin ever comes near you again-"
"Oliver!" He stopped his pacing and looked at Gwen, still fuming. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "I know you're upset- believe me, I am too- but I think you handled that well."
"Handled it well?" Oliver said in disbelief. "Gwen, I punched him in the face!"
"I know. Thanks." She grinned and pulled him into a hug. "He deserved it. Now come on, let's eat. I'm starving."
Gwen unwrapped her turkey sandwich, but a soft knock on the glass interrupted her. Oliver tensed as she opened the door.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" the plump witch asked sweetly. Gwen smiled with relief and bought some chocolate frogs and licorice wands for after lunch.
Even after some time in peace, Oliver still felt edgy. "You're making me nervous!" Gwen told him finally. "You're so uptight."
He ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry."
"Flint?" He nodded. Gwen slipped behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. Slowly she started kneading his tight muscles. His head fell forward as her thumbs worked the back of his neck. She felt him loosening up, so her hands slid down his back. She worked his shoulder blades with the heel of her hand, moving down his spine. He groaned in appreciation.
"That feels a lot better. Thanks."
Gwen slid her hands up and around to Oliver's chest. "You're welcome. We both needed that. Finally, I can relax!" She sat sideways on the seat to face the window and pulled him back with her so he sat between her legs. He held her hands and kissed her fingertips.
A little while later, there was another knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Gwen called cautiously.
"Fred and George."
"Come on in guys!" Gwen and Oliver both sighed, glad to see some friends.
"Rumors are flying through the train about Flint getting beat up. Have you heard?" Fred asked excitedly.
"Oh," Gwen laughed, "that was Oliver." The twins' eyes popped. "He didn't quite beat him up, just punched him in the face a couple times."
"What happened?" George questioned.
Oliver didn't seem to feel like talking, so she answered for him. "He... insulted me." She left it at that. The twins waited for more, but when they realized she was not going to continue, they changed the subject.
"Guess what we did a couple weeks ago?" Fred challenged.
"We rescued Harry Potter," George supplied before she could guess.
"His uncle had him all locked up in his room." Fred and George spent the rest of the train ride explaining every detail of their adventure in the flying Ford Anglia.
"Hey," Fred said at the end of their story. "I don't remember seeing Ron and Harry get on the train."