Chapter 50

Sweat dripped down Tiannah's flushed face. Blue eyes were fixated on brown, narrowed and dangerous. Usually, Oliver would take this as a warning sign to back away, but one thing was the exception to normality: Quidditch.

Tiannah knew he was good. Heck - he was great. They were the two newest members of the team, however, and they had to prove themselves to be as worthy as anyone on that pitch. It attested to be difficult.

Oliver anticipated Tiannah's every move. Well, that's what came with playing Quidditch with each other since the age of five. Moreover, Oliver trained her. Tiannah wished that Oliver didn't know her so well.

Oliver raised an eyebrow playfully, as Tiannah used the hand she wasn't holding the Quaffle in to make a rude hand gesture at her boyfriend. The crowd cheered and wolf whistled, as a smirk veered across her face. Midway through the game, and Tiannah had scored as many times as she missed: fifty. This, she knew, wasn't league standard. Yet, Oliver was a good Quidditch player, and both the teams (and what seemed to be their entire fanbases) knew of their past and their unusual circumstances. There weren't many members of Puddlemere dating women from the Harpies. In the crowds eyes, Tiannah's game play seemed justified, but to Tiannah, she was performing poorly. It wasn't good enough.

She decided to go for the broke, however, and take a chance. Leaning forwards as to accelerate, she held the Quaffle under her right arm and moved forwards. Her plan had formed. Aim to the right, then left, then right and then left again. That should play with his mind, she mused.

It payed off. Oliver looked oddly flushed as he threw the Quaffle back into the game.

For the next two shots, Tiannah wasn't so lucky. She wouldn't let Gwenog do all the work, and the reserve Chaser, Lily, had been assigned to play, and she proved to be worthless. It was really up to two players, and if Tiannah stopped shooting, Gwenog would have to take the load. Thankfully, Tiannah's admired captain called for timeout. Tiannah landed her broom and walked towards Gwenog, positively seething. It was raining now, and her face was dripping with a mingle of rain, sweat and tears of pure frustration. Usually, Gwenog would tell her fiery chaser to calm down, but tonight was the exception to what was normality, as was already established.

"Is there a rule saying that you can't strip?" Tanya, the Seeker, asked Tiannah jokingly. She was about to snap, before she turned to Tanya, blue eyes widened.

"That isn't half a bad idea. If I strip down to my underwear, it will distract him, and-"

"No," Gwenog interjected, brown eyes sweeping over Tiannah's features. "I don't care if he is your boyfriend, stripping for a Quidditch game is completely undignified and demeaning. We are the Holyhead Harpies, and we are dignified women who will not use our feminine features - even prominent ones - to our advantage."

Tanya looked a little ashamed for suggesting it, but judging from the glint in Gwenog's eyes, she had a plan.

"However, that doesn't mean that you can't go and distract him slightly," she said.

"How to you mean?" Tiannah asked.

"Snog him, give him a lap dance - joking - but just distract 'im. Hey, it isn't wrong. He is your boyfriend."

Smiling, Tiannah nodded and walked across the hallway and into the Puddlemere changing room. Stealthily, she crept around and found Oliver, who was on his own.

"Hey," she said, puffing her chest out ever so slightly as Oliver's eyes trained on hers. Tiannah knew that she was never good at the whole 'seductive girlfriend' act, but after much of training from Hestia, she had a working knowledge of how to do so.

"Hey," he replied, standing up and placing his hands on her waist, pulling her closer at the same time.

"You're playing well out there," said Tiannah, running a hand up his chest and resting it on his cheek. "As usual."

"You too."

She stood on tiptoe and kissed Oliver lightly, eventually deepening it. For a moment, she forgot what she was meant to be doing, as she quickly realised something: by distracting Oliver, she was distracting herself. Pulling away quickly, she shot him an apologetic look and left the room. When she returned, Gwenog cocked an eyebrow curiously.

"No," Tiannah said. "It didn't really work the way I planned it to."

In fact, from that quick kiss, she felt as though she was in a daze. Gwenog sensed this and conjured up a bucket of icy water and tipped it over her head. Jumping, Tiannah was shocked out of her daze.

"Are we ready to play?" Tanya asked in her thick American accent. Gwenog and Tiannah exchanged looks and simultaneously nodded.

Tiannah's senses were sharpened. Oliver didn't seem to be in a daze. It would have to be skill vs. skill.

The Harpies would win the match if they were ten points ahead, which meant that Tanya should look for the snitch when they were that many points ahead. Finally, Tiannah scored, putting the Harpies in the lead by ten points. It took a while for Tanya to spot the snitch after that, but when she did, they were still ahead. Practically quivering in anticipation, Tiannah watched Tanya accelerate in search of the golden snitch. Just as her fingers brushed against the surface, a bludger came hurdling towards her, knocking her off course.

"PIECE OF SHIT!" Tiannah screamed, as the Puddlemere Seeker caught the snitch.

There was an outburst of cheering from the Puddlemere supporters, and hisses from the Harpies ones. Tiannah was positively seething with indescribable anger and she landed her broom to see if Tanya was okay. She had been hit very hard in the head, judging from the resounding 'crack'.

"Tanya?" Tiannah asked gently.

A small moan of pain elicited from the American girl lying on the ground, until she spoke.

"I'm okay."

Sighing in relief, Tiannah let the medi-wizard take Tanya away. It was then that her anger returned in full force. Gwenog was already being restrained from attacking the Beater that stopped their victory, but Tiannah - in an uncharacteristic move - was able to control herself. She felt two warm hands on her waist and turned around, a smile stretching across her features as she saw Oliver's handsome face.

"Good job, love," he said honestly, grinning and spinning her around. Laughing, Tiannah kissed Oliver's cheek as he put her down. Her volatile fury was forgotten in the intimate moment, and it didn't return. After all, it was the first game of the new season, as well as her first game against Oliver. And in their own little game (who would score and block the most) they were even. Besides, Tiannah couldn't help but feel happy when Oliver did.

"C'mon Tia, I want to show you off to my team."

Suddenly feeling shy, Tiannah shook her head. "Nah, I'm all muddy and dirty-"

"Come off it, love," Oliver warned, smiling all the same. "I want to show you off."

"Yeah, because I am a trophy," she said sardonically.

Oliver smirked and punched her arm. "That's right."

Tiannah felt her resolve dissolve as Oliver gave her his best puppy dog eye look, and she nodded.

"Now, be friendly, even though I know that they are your enemies-"

"Yeah, because I'm an obedient puppy dog."

Oliver rolled his eyes and pressed on. "I want them to like you for facts besides your good looks."

"Gee, thanks."

"God, what's up your ass tonight?" Oliver asked, feeling irritated.

"Oh, I don't know. I just played a game of Quidditch for eight hours and lost. I have no idea why I would be pissed off."

Oliver noted the sudden change in mood. "Let me guess: period?"

"Got it in one," she said dully, as Oliver encircled an arm around his girlfriend and kissed her forehead. Just as they were about to reach the Puddlemere dressing room, two girls who looked about thirteen approached the two Quidditch fanatics, appearing to be quite breathless.

"Oh my God, hi!" one of them - the brunette of the two - exclaimed, holding a notepad.

"Jessie," the redhead exclaimed, nudging her friend, who was eying Oliver keenly.

Jessie broke out of her 'trance' and began to speak. "God, you two are cute together - we are hardcore shippers of Ollieannah."

"What's that, an illness?" Oliver asked stupidly, looking and feeling completely nonplussed.

The girls giggled. "Oh, you are so funny," Jessie said, swooning.

"Thanks?" Oliver said, the phrase coming out as more of a question.

"We were wondering," the redhead began, "if we could have both of your autographs?"

Willingly, Tiannah and Oliver signed the notebooks that the girls were holding. They ran off together, giggling. Sharing incredulous smiles, Tiannah and Oliver made their way to the Puddlemere change rooms.

Tiannah decided to be friendly to the enemy, but not because Oliver suggested to do so. Tiannah just preferred being nice rather than being hostile. The team loved Tiannah, especially the males on the team, which irritated Tiannah less than she thought it would. Overall, she didn't think that they were too bad.

Back at their unit, Tiannah was reading a letter from Monica.

Dear Tiannah,

I am so sorry that Theo and I missed you and Oliver's first match against each other! But little Dave is just such a handful!

Right now, he is peacefully asleep. Tiannah, once again - thank you. If it wasn't for you, Dave would never be in my life. I actually feel like a normal woman now, with a man who loves her. Theo is just amazing, Tiannah, really. I am going to insert a clichéd phrase here, and say that 'In the short time that I have known him, it feels as though we have known each other forever.'

But that is genuinely how I feel. Dave is a reminder of the mistakes I made that turned out to change my life, in the best way.

I know that You-Know-Who is back, and I believe it too. I met Remus the other night, and he explained the situation to Theo and me. I know that raising a child in these circumstances is dangerous, but I just hope that soon, all the troubles will be gone. I will insert another clichéd phrase here and say that 'But I always attract trouble.'

I hope that you and Oliver are going well. Shag my little bro's brains out, won't you?

Monica

Tiannah always found that Monica's letters were very interesting, to say the least. Dave had been born three months ago, a few days after Remus told Tiannah and Oliver that Lord Voldemort had returned. Tiannah didn't feel as though she was in any immediate danger, but there was a sort of sense of uncertainty present in the air, and she didn't like it, not one bit. There were some days when Tiannah felt incredibly sad, due to Cedric's passing. Then there were days when she was happy, usually due to seeing Benny or Dave. Some days, she completely forgot all about her sadness. Those were the days when she and Oliver were alone together. Still, Tiannah considered herself to be lucky. She had friends, family and - in her opinion - the most amazing boyfriend in the world. Not many people could say the same. Hestia, for one.

Her parents had decided to visit their daughter a few weeks ago. In a teary rush of words, Hestia told Tiannah what they had said: she was a slut who had no standards, was a disgrace upon the name of Lawrence and a horrible, disobedient child. Hestia's response was to spit in her mother's face.

Tiannah knew that if her nutso friend didn't have Ken, she would have practically had a meltdown.

Tiannah's train of thought was broken when Oliver walked in, dressed in only a white towel, as beads of water dripped down his muscled chest. Bloody vision of perfection...

"Hey, babe," he greeted her, causing his girlfriend to narrow her blue eyes.

"No. You are lucky I let you call me love. 'Babe' is just takin the piss."

Oliver rolled his eyes, smirking. "Fine. Hey, do you wanna have some fun?"

"I had my period three hours earlier, Oliver, when you asked. It doesn't just disappear like that," she said dully.

Oliver looked very disheartened. "That's just annoying. Periods suck."

"You think I don't know that? You're talking to the lucky girl who got her period when she was eleven, has had horrible cramps ever since and had to put up with a best friend who was perfectly fine with her periods, like those bloody girls on commercials-"

"Okay, I don't need to know about Hestia's periods," Oliver said, looking slightly nauseous. Tiannah rolled her eyes and huffed angrily.

"Whatever. You don't really care about how much bloody pain I'm in. I had to play Quidditch today with these cramps, you know? All you care about is shagging."

Oliver's brown eyes softened. "That isn't true. Stay here."

Oliver hurried out of the room, and Tiannah angrily looked at the roof. "Of course, leave me alone," she mumbled, closing her eyes and grimacing.

Oliver returned within five minutes, holding a mug of hot chocolate and a hot water bottle.

"Here, love," he said soothingly, handing her the mug of steaming chocolate and placing the hot water bottle on her stomach. Tiannah closed her eyes and groaned, as Oliver's fingers trailed across her waist, caressing her curves.

"I don't just care about shagging," Oliver began honestly, watching Tiannah take a sip from her mug. "I care about you."

"Whatever, Ollie," Tiannah said dismissively. "You can say whatever you like, but actions speak louder than words."

"Well, I can't really prove it to you, because you have your period."

"And how would you prove it? Shagging? Because that's what this bloody argument is about."

"I-"

"I don't care, Oliver. Just leave me alone and let me sleep, please."

With a hanging head and still dressed in his towel, Oliver left the room, feeling incredibly guilty, upset and angry.

Tiannah felt a lot better in the morning. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, midway through September. It was one of those days. The type of days when you could wear a jumper or a singlet. The only thing that marred her mood, however, was the fact that Oliver wasn't next to her. Automatically, Tiannah felt bad for being so harsh on him the night before. After all, he had tried to help her and she threw it back in his face. She dressed in a tank top and leggings, before making her way down to breakfast.

As Tiannah was walking down the stairs, she bumped into Oliver, who was holding a tray with pancakes on it.

"Oh," he said, looking slightly forlorn. "I was going to bring this up for you."

Tiannah felt her heart melt at the gesture, but she wasn't going to give in so easily.

"Whatever. You eat it; I'm not very hungry," she lied, as her stomach let out a growl. Irritated, Oliver cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't lie to me, love."

"I am not your love!"

Tiannah knew that she took it too far with that sentence. Oliver looked extremely upset and saddened.

"Fine. I'll eat it myself."

Oliver walked back down the stairs and Tiannah groaned. This wouldn't have happened if I didn't have my bloody period, she thought to herself, glowering at the white wall. She knew that she was acting in a very juvenile manner, as was Oliver, but she couldn't bring herself to apologise. After all, in her eyes, she did nothing wrong. It was Oliver's fault for being an tactless prat.

Hestia came over later that day, and started talking to Tiannah about how her career at the Daily Prophet was going well. The blonde didn't notice that Tiannah was upset until Oliver walked past her room, and Tiannah turned around and glared.

"What happened?" Hestia demanded to know.

"Oliver seems to think that shagging is the most important part of a relationship," Tiannah said angrily, folding her arms and glaring at her bedspread. Hestia cocked and eyebrow, appearing to be worried.

"What, did he force you into having sex?"

"No!" Tiannah said, unable to keep the note of hysteria out of her voice. "No, not at all. When we were walking back from the pitch..."

In a matter of minutes, Tiannah had explained the whole situation to Hestia.

"I've said this before, Tia. You are an idiot. He obviously realised that you were in pain and went to help you! As per usual, you are making a mountain out of a molehill."

Tiannah opened her mouth in outrage. "Am not!"

"Are too. Come on. He loves you."

"Doesn't change the fact that all he thinks about is sex."

Hestia slapped her forehead. "You are an idiot!"

"Am not!" Tiannah yelled, stomping her foot like a five year old. Hestia huffed and rolled her eyes, before stalking out of the room. She returned in a few minutes, with a vice like grip around Oliver's wrist.

"You two talk, okay?"

She scurried out of the room as Oliver took a seat on the end of Tiannah's bed.

"Hey," they said in unison, and Tiannah couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sorry if you thought that all I care about is shagging. It isn't true, I swear."

Tiannah's blue eyes burned into Oliver, desperate to see something that would indicate that she was right. Instead, all she could see was honesty and love.

"I believe you," she said softly, standing up and taking a seat on Oliver's lap. He smirked as Tiannah ran her fingers through his hair.

"You're sexy," she breathed, and all of her anger was forgotten as Oliver's lips captured hers.

Oliver could count the times on his fingers when he had been so nervous that he could throw up.

One: When he was first trying out to be a Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Two: When he played his first ever game of Quidditch for Gryffindor.

Three: On the day of his last ever Quidditch match, when the Quidditch Scouts came to Hogwarts.

Four: Now.

Three out of four of the times had been Quidditch related. This certainly wasn't.

He tried to calm himself down. After all, he had knocked on this door a million times before.

The door opened and Daniel was greeted by the sight of Oliver, looking incredibly pale and sick.

"Okay there, Oliver?" he asked. Oliver nodded dumbly and Daniel let him over the threshold.

"Is Jane here?" Oliver asked, wiping his sweating brow. Daniel shook his head.

"No. She's off Christmas shopping with Benny."

"Oh."

Oliver looked around the living room. There were moving photographs of himself and Oliver plastered on the walls, photographs of Benny and other family members. They didn't do much to comfort him and his nerves.

"So, Oliver, would you like something?"

"No," he replied in a hoarse voice, shaking his head. "I was just going to ask..."

A smile tipped up at the corners of Daniel's lips; he had a vague suspicion as to why Oliver was so nervous. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if I have your permission to marry your daughter?"

Daniel almost cracked up laughing. Not because of the question – because Oliver was taking it so seriously. It was as though he was afraid that he would say no.

For a few moments, Daniel sized Oliver up. There was no question as to what his answer would be, but he enjoyed seeing Oliver look so nervous; it proved how serious he was about Tiannah.

"Of course you can. Bit of a silly question, really. I'm sure that if I said no, you would do so anyway."

Oliver smiled sheepishly and ran a finger through his brown hair. Relief washed over his body; the answer was yes. He had been thinking of asking Tiannah to marry him for some time now, possibly for the past year. The thoughts had always been there, but lately, he had been thinking of it more frequently. It had been five months since Lord Voldemort returned, and Oliver wanted to do something before it escalated into a full-blown war.

"Have you found a ring?" Daniel asked. Oliver nodded.

"Yeah. I told Mum and she gave me her mother's ring. Please don't tell Jane, though. I didn't want to tell Mum, but-"

"Don't worry, Oliver. I'm not going to tell anyone. Now, are you up for a glass of champagne?"

When Tiannah returned to her old home for Christmas, she realised that Benny had been missing her a lot. In fact, he was missing her so much that he decided to ignore her at first. Initially, Tiannah was nonplussed, until her mother explained the situation. Tiannah's first thought was that she was going to visit her little brother more often. Oliver and his family (which included Monica and Theo's child, Dave) came over to the Summers' residence for Christmas, as did Hestia and Ken, much to Tiannah's delight.

However, one thing was in the way between Tiannah and complete happiness: Benny's behaviour. Tiannah had tried to talk to him on many occasions, and he completely ignored her. After Monica put Dave down for a sleep, she, Hestia and Tiannah came up with a plan.

"Okay," Hestia whispered, winking at her husband before turning back to Tiannah and Monica. "Basically, Tiannah, you have to pretend to die."

Monica and Tiannah started laughing. "Seriously?" Monica hissed.

"Of course!"

Monica rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because that will work. What is she gonna do, collapse on the ground?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Hestia replied, without a trace of sarcasm. "Monica, it will work!"

You would have thought that motherhood would have made Monica a little more tactful and less sardonic, but some things never change.

"Sure, and I'm Lord Voldemort."

Hestia and Tiannah winced at the name, and Monica cocked an eyebrow.

"VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT!" she yelled, causing Tiannah and Hestia to recoil.

"Shut up," Tiannah hissed angrily, as Monica smirked.

"Yeah, it isn't funny, considering the circumstances," Hestia said scathingly. Unabashed, Monica shrugged and picked at her nails.

"Do whatever you want, ladies," she said. "I'm going to go check on Dave."
Tiannah and Hestia noted the way that Monica's eyes softened at the mention of her son. Maybe there was one factor that could change Monica, a part that was left untouched, even by Theo.

So Tiannah and Hestia, convinced that the plan would work, set up a plan. Hestia told the rest of the members of the house what was going on, and that they had to play along.

Tiannah was actually quite interested as to see what would happen, and how Benny would react. He was almost eight years old, and Tiannah wanted to have the close relationship that they had when he was younger; she didn't want it to turn into one of those brotherly/sisterly relationships when all they did was fight. Being Christmas Eve, Benny was hanging around the Christmas tree, so Tiannah decided to start the action plan in the living room.

"Hestia, you are so- OW!" Tiannah exclaimed, clutching her heart. Hestia gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, as Tiannah collapsed to the floor.

"TIA! Oh no!" Hestia cried, with more than just a touch of melodrama. The blonde pressed a hand to Tiannah's chest and pretended to cry in pain.

"I don't feel a heartbeat! I must give her mouth to mouth!"

At this point, Oliver and Ken walked in, both of them barely concealing their laughter. Hestia tried to give her friend mouth to mouth for show, but Tiannah burst into hysterical giggles.

"It's a miracle! She's alive!" Hestia trilled, flipping her hair and pretending to wipe her sweating brow. Tiannah sat up and turned to Benny, who didn't look amused at all.

"I'm not an idiot," he said dully, walking out of the room. Tiannah groaned, angry with herself. Clearly, the plan didn't work; she was insulting Benny's intelligence.

"I'll have to go after him," Tiannah muttered, running after her little brother. She eventually found him sitting on his bed, staring at the floor.

"Benny?" she asked softly He didn't look up, but Tiannah decided to walk in anyway. She sat on the end of his bed and began to speak.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been to see you lately, little bro. I've just been really busy with Quidditch and I've been so tired. Have you been reading my letters?"

Benny nodded. "But I stopped a few weeks ago."

"Why?"

"Because you don't care about me. All you care about is Oliver and Quidditch."

Tiannah shook her head, smiling wryly. If anyone else had claimed that, she would be furious, but Tiannah had rarely gotten angry with Benny.

"No, Benny. I care about you and Mum and Dad and so many other things and people. But lately, I have been so, so tired."

"That isn't a good reason."

Tiannah sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She hadn't realised how much Benny had matured of recent times. "I know it isn't a good reason, but it is the reason. I haven't forgotten about you."

Benny trained his green eyes on Tiannah's blue ones. For a moment, Tiannah thought that he was going to ignore her, until he wrapped his arms around Tiannah. Smiling happily, Tiannah stroked his brown hair.

"Are we good?" she asked.

"Yes."

Later that day, as the sun was setting, Oliver approached Tiannah, who was chatting with Hestia.

"Tiannah?"

Tiannah turned to look at Oliver curiously; he rarely called her that.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come with me?"

Hestia giggled and Tiannah shot her a pointed look, before nodding and following her boyfriend.

"Do you wanna go to the lake?" Oliver asked, holding his hand out for Tiannah to take. She noted that he looked very nervous, and nodded, entwining her fingers with his.

"It's been three years since we got together," Tiannah stated, as they walked down the path that led to the lake. Oliver nodded dumbly.

"I know. It isn't easy to forget."

It seemed strange to Tiannah that it happened so long ago now. A lot had happened since then, but it didn't seem that long ago.

The lake was frozen, but Tiannah knew better than to ice-skate on it, however appealing it appeared to be. She and Oliver took a seat on the grass that surrounded the lake, which was covered in a thick layer of snow. Shivering, Tiannah curled up into Oliver, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her cheek. They stayed like that for a few moments, until Tiannah stood up and stretched, Oliver following suit.

"So," she began, "why did you bring me down here?"

Oliver locked his eyes on Tiannah's, brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes.

"Tiannah... Tia... we've been friends since we were little. I know that I've made a lot of stupid mistakes concerning you, but I don't want to lose you again." He pulled a box out of his pocket and got on one knee.

"Will you marry me?"

Tiannah's heart leapt to her throat, rendering speech impossible. Butterflies exploded in the pit of her stomach, and she nodded as fast as she could, as Oliver slipped the ring onto her finger.

Slowly, both of their features cracked into ecstatic grins, and Oliver spun Tiannah around, who had never felt happier. She then kissed him with all the love she could muster, and didn't look back.

Life never looked better in that moment.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would be on the moon.