Chapter 44

Tiannah was never one to sit around all day doing nothing.

It just wasn't in her personality to do so. Tiannah was an active person who found it incredibly dull and infuriating to sit around all day.

She had permanently moved in with Oliver and his unit now. Hestia agreed that it was for the best; they were best friends, but they had such different personalities. Ken moved in as a replacement for Tiannah, which she was fine about.

Not only was Tiannah still upset about not being pregnant, she was very irritated that she was missing out on Quidditch.

A week after she was diagnosed with Glandular, she lay in Oliver's bed, staring at the bare ceiling, scowling. Her mood only improved when Oliver came home.

Tiannah sat up and smiled at Oliver, who sat at the edge of his bed and brushed a piece of hair away from Tiannah's eyes. Her mood softened significantly at the simple yet loving action.

"You okay, Tia?"

She nodded, a smile creeping over her features at the sight of Oliver, who had just come back from a Quidditch session. A few beads of sweat were pouring down the side of his face, his hair tousled and a crooked smirk evident on his handsome features. Tiannah grinned at him and he grinned back, kissing her temple.

"I'm a little bored," she said, indicating that she was under-exaggerating. Oliver noted her red nose, hoarse and nasal voice and the way her features were distorted in a grimace. Even when she was sick, Oliver thought that she was more beautiful than anyone in the world. A pang shot through his chest as he realised how much she would be hating the inability to do anything but eating and sleeping efficiently, due to her ill health. Now that she didn't have Quidditch as a distraction, Oliver knew that Tiannah was feeling more horrible than she did before.

"I'll have a shower, then I'll make you some soup, okay?"

Tiannah pulled a face and nodded, stretching her arms out and yawning loudly.

When Oliver returned from the shower, Tiannah's eyes roamed longingly across his toned chest, sharp hipbones and broad shoulders. Fuck this illness, she thought bitterly, I can't even shag him, for god sakes!

"You're sexy," she said lustily, locking her blue eyes on Oliver's brown ones. He smirked and sat on the edge of the bed, as Tiannah squeezed his thigh. The only attire he wore was a white towel. If only he would take it off...

"Stop teasing me, woman," he teased, only half joking. Tiannah rolled her eyes, smiling once more.

"I will when you do."

"I better get dressed then," he said innocently, smiling. Tiannah ran a finger over his sharp cheekbones and smirked.

"I didn't say that. Y'know, you're very sexy, Ollie. Maybe you'll be the cure for this accursed sickness..."

Tiannah trailed off as she and Oliver exchanged significant looks. They both well knew that there was more to Tiannah's horrible mood than being sick.

"I'll go and make you some dinner," Oliver said softly, avoiding her gaze. Tiannah knew that she was capable of making it herself, but she allowed Oliver to have his time alone. After all, the realisation that she wasn't pregnant had a significant effect on Oliver as much as it did on Tiannah.

A few tears reached her eyes as she thought about that baby that never existed. Ever since Benny was little, she wanted kids, but she didn't know how much she really did until she had an idea of what the possibility felt like.

When Oliver returned with a bowl of steaming chicken soup (Tiannah's favourite) he hopped into bed with her, as she inhaled the pleasant aromas of the soup and tasted it, smiling when she found that it was just as pleasant-tasting as it smelled.

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Oliver said, "And I have no training. So we have the day to ourselves."

"Such a shame that I'm sick," Tiannah pointed out sardonically, and Oliver's face fell. Feeling guilty, Tiannah stopped consuming her soup and turned to Oliver, placing a hand on his cheek.

"Do you want to do something fun tomorrow? We could..." Tiannah racked her brains, thinking of something to do that she felt up to. The fact that she couldn't dissolved her happy-ish mood completely.

"Hey," Oliver whispered, smiling at the woman next to him. "I don't care if you don't feel up to doing anything. I would much rather stay in bed with you all day than go to some Quidditch game, play Quidditch... or anything. I love you, Tia. Even though you can be such a stubborn git at times..."

"Hey," Tiannah teased, slapping his arm jokingly. "You should have quit while you were ahead."

"Not my style, love."

The next day, Monica came over, looking panicked and scared. Tiannah frowned when she saw Oliver's sister, one thought occurring to her: Theo had something to do with it.

Tiannah's ex-boyfriend hadn't replied to any of the owls that she sent, much to her annoyance. Monica clearly fancied Theo... and he wouldn't just have a fling with her and leave... would he?

"Everything okay, Monica?" Tiannah questioned, sitting at her desk and sipping some scalding tea. Monica shook her head, eyes watering.

"I'm pregnant."

Tiannah spat out her tea, literally.

"Theo?" she whispered, unperturbed by Monica's bluntness, but of the information that she supplied. Wiping tea from her cheek and tears from her wide blue eyes, Tiannah continued to stare incredulously at Monica as she slowly nodded.

"You okay?" Monica asked, concerned, as Tiannah looked as though she was crying.

It wasn't because she wasn't happy for Monica; she was. It was more the fact that children were a touchy subject in recent weeks. Tiannah nodded, continuing to look incredulous.

"Monica... you need to tell Theo. Seriously."

"Yeah... but..."

"No buts," Tiannah said shortly. "Tell him. I have enough shit to deal with."

Monica now looked angry. "Oh, I'm so sorry that I came to you."

Tiannah immediately felt guilty, but it didn't deter her from her foul mood.

"You should be. Tell him, please," she snapped, wiping tears from her eyes. Monica, however, didn't budge.

"What happened?"

Tiannah shook her head, not wanting to go into the details. Luckily, Oliver came to her rescue.

"You okay?" Oliver asked both Monica and Tiannah, who looked like they were crying. Frowning, he cocked an eyebrow at Tiannah, who shook her head. Suddenly businesslike, Monica stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I better get going," she said briskly, wiping her eyes once more and apparating away. Oliver turned to Tiannah, who looked uncharacteristically angry, jealous and upset. Oliver didn't ask why, however. He knew that if she wanted to elaborate, she would do so. Instead of pestering her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. Eventually, Tiannah spoke in a hoarse voice, masked with emotion.

"Monica's pregnant."

Oliver looked sharply at Tiannah, who looked angry. That's odd, he thought, dark brows furrowing. However, the fact that Monica was pregnant in the first place was even odder.

"God... not Mark's?"

Tiannah shook her head, her lips curling into a wry smile. "Nah. Theo's."

Tiannah was sure that if Oliver was sipping tea, he would have spat it out too.

"Your ex?" he asked incredulously, looking nothing short of livid. Tiannah recoiled at his furious appearance, having rarely seen him so angry. There were only three occasions when he did so.

When Cedric was horrible to Tiannah.

When Flint changed the team that Gryffindor were playing against.

And now.

"Oliver, don't get angry at him. Or Monica, for that matter. I spoke to both of them after they shagged-"

"You knew?" Oliver snarled, glaring at Tiannah furiously. Meekly, she nodded.

"You know what? I'm not angry with either of them, Tiannah. I'm angry with you."

Tiannah blinked a few times, her vision swimming before her eyes. Oliver stormed out of the room, as Tiannah angrily punched her pillow, feeling more awful than she had in weeks.

"He's such a dickhead," Tiannah snarled to Hestia, who came over later that day. The blonde knew of Tiannah's false pregnancy and was the first to come over when she found out, giving Tiannah some homemade fudge, which she scoffed down like there was no tomorrow. She also knew Tiannah enough to know that she certainly wasn't enjoying the house confinement that was her predicament, and often came over to see how she was doing. What annoyed Hestia most, however, was how much of a jerk Oliver could be. Honestly, she's going through enough shit! Of course she wasn't going to tell him that Monica and Theo shagged... even I didn't know!

"More ice-cream, honey," Hestia said soothingly, handing her the tub of ice-cream. The blonde read in Witch Weekly that ice-cream was an extremely comforting food choice.

Tiannah wiped her eyes and glared at the ice-cream, so furiously that Hestia thought that it would explode into flames, before consuming it.

"I mean, seriously. My life fucking sucks at the moment."

Hestia nodded enthusiastically, knowing better than to disagree with Tiannah, who, after all, became very pessimistic when she was being ordered around, this time for her own health's sake.

"Look, Tia, Oliver loves you, and although you may think that he is being unreasonable, he does have means for doing so. He's obviously still sore about the fact that you didn't end up being pregnant, and about the whole Mark situation. And considering that you were the one playing matchmaker..."

"I get it," Tiannah snapped angrily, "I'm the bad guy here."

"Hey," Hestia said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I didn't say that. I'm just thinking about it from Oliver's perspective."

Tiannah nodded, knowing – despite her anger – that Hestia was being realistic. After Monica had been in such a horrible relationship, and less than a week after she divorced her husband, she ended up pregnant to her brother's girlfriend's ex. It wasn't a good situation if Tiannah thought about it like that. The rational part of Tiannah's brain (that wasn't clouded over with anger) realised that Oliver had a right to know.

Hestia started to braid Tiannah's hair, knowing that it had a calming sensation on her and her angry spells. Tiannah closed her eyes as Hestia gently brushed her hair and pulled it into a tight braid, as the brunette sorted out her thoughts. However, this proved to be difficult, as her head and throat were throbbing. Sniffing, she opened her eyes and turned to Hestia, the braid falling around her shoulders.

"Thanks, Hest."

"No problem," she beamed, feeling a sense of accomplishment that she managed to improve Tiannah's mood. Tiannah returned the smile, which actually reached her eyes. Tiannah asked if Hestia knew where Oliver was, and she shook her head.

"Probably with Ken," she shrugged. "Do you want me to go?"

"I need to sleep," Tiannah said. "So if you don't mind."

As Tiannah tried to drift to sleep, she found it exceedingly difficult, as she always did when she rowed with Oliver. Tiannah had no idea where he was, how he was feeling or if he was talking to Monica or Theo. She hugged her pillow tighter, its scent having a calming effect on her; it smelt like Oliver.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, before crying herself to sleep, something she had been doing more often than not.

Disclaimer: Nuh uh. Me no own, you no sue.