Chapter 32

Tiannah was sorting through her clothes when her mother walked in.

"Hey, Mum," Tiannah said, not looking up from the clothes that she was currently folding.

"Hello, dear," Jane said, taking a seat at the bottom of her daughter's bed. Oliver had gone to his parents house after he took Benny out for a fly, which resulted in disastrous consequences.

"Mum, how old were you when you and Dad got together?"

"Hmm, let's see. I was in my sixth year and someone locked us in a cupboard."

Tiannah giggled and sat on the bed.

"What happened next?"

"Well, you see, I was best friends with Meredith, and your father was best friends with James. But I couldn't stand your father. Meredith couldn't stand James. But one day, Meredith and James decided to put their differences aside so that they could kidnap your father and me. They locked us in the cupboard. It was terribly awkward," Jane laughed. "He had no shirt on, because they kidnapped us in the middle of the night, and I was wearing very little clothing too."

"Go on," Tiannah said, smiling.

"Now, your father was a very good Quidditch player, so as you could guess, I was ogling him. I told him that in no way was he allowed to go near me, because I loathed him. But he had other ideas," she said, her green eyes twinkling at the memory. "Firstly, he said that my pyjamas matched my eyes perfectly. He then approached me and said that I was beautiful. I was a little shocked, as I'm sure you can imagine. We absolutely reviled each other with a passion. I was noticing things about your father that I had never noticed. For example, I thought that he had lovely eyes, just like yours. Well, then he kissed me, and a few years later, you're the result."

Tiannah smiled and wiped away the wetness from her eyes. "That's so sweet," she mumbled.

Jane smiled and wrapped her arms around her daughter. "You wonder why we teased you all those years. We knew that you and Oliver were soulmates."

"How?"

"Tia, I'm a mother. I saw the way that you looked at each other."

Tiannah wiped away the wetness from her eyes again.

The Wood's decided to spend Christmas at the Summers' residence. Tiannah spent most of Christmas Eve in her bedroom, reading a book, until Oliver walked in and sat at the bottom of her bed, smirking. She knew that smirk all too well. It was suggestive and flirty, and although Tiannah loved it seeing his lips curl in such a manner, given the circumstances, it was completely inappropriate. To divest the awkward aura that was present in the air, Tiannah looked away from Oliver's smirking face and out into the backyard. The willow tree's branches were coated in snow, and the slight breeze caused its branches to sway. Suddenly, Tiannah remembered what happened under that tree exactly a year ago, causing her body to ache with melancholy and desire. She glanced back at Oliver, who had a longing, gloomy look in his eyes.

"It's been a year since..."

"Yeah," Oliver said hoarsely, smiling slightly at the woman of his dreams.

"Snow fight time?"

"Whew!" Tiannah panted, shivering slightly. Oliver brushed the snow from her hair, causing her cheeks, which were already flushed from cold and exertion, to take on an even redder hue. This caused Oliver to smirk slightly, as he enfolded his arms around Tiannah. She stiffened slightly but gratefully returned the exchange, a warm, tingling feeling spreading throughout her whole body. One of Oliver's hands was on her mid back, the other on the small of her back, pressing her whole body closer to his own. Tiannah rested her head on his shoulder, smiling. It felt so right and perfect to be curled up in his arms, even if it shouldn't. They stayed in that position for a while, smiles on their faces, unknown to each other.

"Tia!"

"My god, what do you want!" she grumbled. It was far too early for someone normal to be awoken.

Oliver crawled into bed with her, his fingers brushing against her bare waist. With a jolt, Tiannah sat up.

"OLIVER!" she screeched.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"I'm in my underwear! Get out!" she cried.

"Like I haven't seen it all before," Oliver muttered under his breath, walking out of her bedroom.

Tiannah quickly pulled on a jumper and a pair of jeans. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, and her fingers brushed against the necklace that Oliver gave her.

She had almost forgotten about it. Tiannah hadn't taken it off since she received it, and she grew accustomed to the cool feeling on the notch of her breastbone. As she rarely had cause or cared to look in a mirror, its placement was all but forgotten. She held the necklace between her forefinger and thumb, smiling slightly as she remembered the day that Oliver had given it to her.

She walked out of her bedroom and her blue eyes brightened as she saw Oliver waiting for her. He smiled warmly at the woman of his dreams. It was a warm, sweet smile, with no traces of suggestiveness; only love. He wrapped his arms around Tiannah.

"Merry Christmas," he mumbled into her hair.

Tiannah returned the greeting and quickly pulled away from the hug. She wouldn't be able to focus if she continued to experience the electric feeling that lingered on her body long after Oliver had pulled away.

Tiannah bade her parents and godparents a Merry Christmas and walked over to Benny, who was sitting on the coffee table, munching on some chocolate. With a pang, she realised how much he had grown in the past year. He grinned toothily at her and Tiannah grinned back, pulling a face, which caused him to snort chocolate through his nose. Tiannah laughed loudly, as did Oliver, who had sidled up next to Tiannah.

"Y'know," Oliver whispered into her ear, "I think we did some not so innocent things on that table, Tia."

"OLIVER!" Tiannah screeched for the second time that morning. The parents in the vicinity looked curiously at the two, and Tiannah grabbed Oliver by the hand and dragged him outside.

"What the HELL is wrong with you?" she hissed angrily.

"What?"

"When are you going to get it through your head that we are done? Bringing things up like that is only adding to how much I hate being apart from you. You need to pull your head in and realise that you don't have a right to flirt with me like that anymore."

Tiannah comprehended what she said a moment too late. She turned on her heel, but Oliver grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him.

"I want you back. I need you back."

Tiannah tried and failed abysmally to keep her heart rate and breaths normal. Oliver brought a hand up to her cheek and stared at her with an intense gaze.

"You're so... beautiful."

Whenever Oliver spoke to Tiannah, she didn't have butterflies in her stomach in a continual pattern. Instead, they suddenly awoke, causing a burst of nerves that made her want to throw up. That was how she felt when Oliver smiled slightly, in such a loving way.

Tiannah stood on tiptoes and tilted her head to the side, as Oliver's hand left her cheek and travelled to the back of her neck, where it stayed as her eyes fluttered close.

"TIANNAH!"

Tiannah jumped away from Oliver, who looked a little annoyed as he saw Benny, with chocolate all over his face, waving at Tiannah.

"Benny!" Tiannah exclaimed, striding away from Oliver and up to Benny.

When all the presents had been opened, Tiannah walked upstairs to try on her new emerald green dress from Hestia. That is, until Oliver cornered her.

"Oliver, please leave me alone," she begged. Oliver stopped her, holding a small box.

"Tia, open this. I got it for you before we-"

Tiannah curiously took the box from Oliver and gasped. Inside, there was a pair of sparkly, emerald earrings. Tiannah had never been a fan of jewellery, but as with her necklace, she fell in love with it as easily as she had done with the person who presented it to her.

"Ollie... they're beautiful," she breathed, looking him in the eye.

"Not as beautiful as you are, Tia."

Tiannah's stomach flipped and she opened her door, trying to get away from Oliver quickly. He stopped her again.

"Would you like me to put them on for you?" he questioned.

"Okay," Tiannah said without thinking. He took the earrings out of the box and carefully and slowly slid them through the small holes in her ears, his fingertips brushing against her earlobe. It sent violent chills down her spine, and she could feel her pulse quickening. It isn't fair how he can make be react that way!

When he finished, he gave Tiannah one last smile and left her to herself. She walked into her bedroom and glanced at her reflection. She smiled as she saw how beautiful the earrings were, and that they would match her dress perfectly. She pulled the strapless dress on and pushed her hair down so that it spiralled down one side of her shoulder. The dress gathered in all the right places and it fell to just above her knees. Smiling, she walked downstairs in order to show her parents and her godparents what it looked like.

She stopped midway on the stairs as she saw Oliver and Benny, who were throwing Benny's new Quaffle back and forth.

"Tiannah is really nice to give me this," Benny said, as he threw the Quaffle to Oliver.

"Your sister is the nicest person I know."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she is."

Tiannah kept quiet so she could listen in on where the conversation was going.

"She's also incredibly talented. I know that you'll be a great Quidditch player, just like she is," Oliver said quietly.

"Yeah, Tiannah is really good at Quidditch."

"We've been training together since we were little, Benny. She's my best friend."

"But I thought Tiannah was angry at you?"

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "She is a bit. We had a fight and she decided not to be my girlfriend anymore."

"Are you sad?"

Oliver chuckled slightly. "Yeah. I am. I love her more than anyone ever, Benny. One day, you'll understand."

"Are you crying?"

Oliver shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ah, shit," he muttered.

"That's a naughty word!"

Oliver's brown eyes were glistening ever so slightly. "I remember one time, I said a naughty word, and Tiannah was very angry because we both got in trouble. When I lost my voice, I would write her notes so she knew what I was saying. She read them out loud to our parents so that everyone knew what he were saying. One time, I wrote down a naughty word and she repeated it, but when she got in trouble, she said 'It isn't my fault that Oliver can't speak. Don't you want to know what your son is saying?'" Oliver chuckled again. "She's amazing, your sister."

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Harry Potter, so please don't sue.