DISCLAIMER: not mine, I'm just a student looking for somewhere to vent my post DH woes.

"Oh Merlin…" I mutter as I take in my surroundings. I'm on a familiar lounge, under a familiar blanket, in a familiar room. I don't remember coming here, come to think of it I don't even remember leaving the Leaky Cauldron last night. Like it matters anyway, not like I have anything left anyway.

The annoyingly familiar grandfather clock chimes four o'clock. I really should get up, no one ever achieves anything from lying on their couch in a drunken haze. A drunken haze at the local pub is much more productive… As I lay staring blankly at the ceiling I realize nothing will make me leave this couch again. Nothing. I don't feel like getting up so I won't. I have a wand, the whiskey will come to me. "Stuff it." I mutter as I slip into a heavy sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I'm roused out of my sleep as the clock chimes five. "Stupid clock, I should put a Silencing Charm on you." I growl. I never wanted that stupid clock, but no, apparently it's 'charming' and since the Weasley's have one of those 'clever' clocks I need one to apparently. I don't need a clock to tell me I'm at home. So until I have my own blonde haired, Quidditch Nazi's, it just tells me the time. Ha, looks like it will be telling the time permanently then.

A sharp knock echoes through my quiet flat. I don't know who it is and I don't care. I am never leaving this lounge again. After a moment of silence a more demanding knock sounds from the door followed by a booming voice "Oliver, open the damn door, I know you're in there! You're welcome to act like a child with Katie, but don't even try it with me."

A child, I'm not a child. I hold my liquor a lot better than a child, thank you very much. "Oliver isn't here at the moment. Please leave a message and he won't get back to you." I reply, my voice hoarse from sleep.

"Oh how clever, not childish at all." the voice calls laced with sarcasm. "What ever will I do? Little Ollie refuses to open the door, and oh my, little ol' me has no way of opening the big, heavy door. I mean it's not as though I have a wand and a blatant disregard for the International Code of Secrecy. You have till the count of three Wood."

Yeah right. No one's stupid enough to use magic in the middle of a muggle neighbourhood, not even George would be that reckless. "One." Muggles may not notice a lot but they do have a very annoying habit of noticing when doors are blown off their hinges. "Two." Surely a Ministry employee isn't stubborn enough to ignore a law as serious as magic in presence of muggles. Hurry up and say three already and leave me alone. "Bombarba!"

"What the hell!" I screech at my unwanted visitor as the door flies down the hallway.

"I know I said you had till three, but you are extremely stubborn and I couldn't be bothered wasting any more time on your childish behaviour. Also, it looks like it is going to rain and I don't want my hair to go frizzy." came the reply as she peeled off her coat and hung it in the closet before coming over to scratch Belle's ear. "Hey there Sweetie, have you been looking after Mr Grumpy Pants over here? I bet you have. So Ol, your love life?"

"Penelope! You- you can't just- just blow up people's doors like that!" I exclaim as she mutters a quick 'Reparo' on the door.

"Of course I can. Besides, I didn't 'blow up' your door, I simply 'moved' your door with 'excessive force'." Penelope replied with a dismissive wave of her hand as she made her way into the kitchen. "Would you like some tea O, I know I would love some. Had to work late today."

I gape at Penelope as I follow her into the kitchen. How could she be so reckless? "I live in a muggle neighbourhood! What were you thinking?! Sorry, obviously you weren't thinking! You're supposed to be intelligent, but let me tell you a secret: exposing the WHOLE Wizarding community for the sake of your hair isn't intelligent!" I bellow as Penny continues to flutter around the kitchen.

"And you are supposed to be over Katie, but judging by your letter you're not. Looks like we are both a bit out of character recently." Penelope says as she quirks an eyebrow at me. "Besides, your problem is a bit bigger than mine, mine is fixed with a few simple Memory Charms, your's on the other hand… Look, I'll be done with the tea in a sec, how about you go wait in the Lounge?"

I nod numbly as I head back to the Lounge Room and settle into my favourite chair. So much for never leaving the lounge again…I should lie back on the lounge just to make a point. I start to stand as I look over at the lounge and see Belle lying there staring at me, as though she's trying to make her own point. "Thanks girl, really helping me out here." I mutter bitterly as Belle stretches out further.

"Ollie really, I'm not the Queen, you don't have to wait for me to be seated." Penny chuckles as she enters the room and places a cup of tea in front me.

"Oh ha ha, so funny Penny." I grumble

"Really? I thought it was a bit overdone and predictable, but if you like it so much I'll be sure to use it as often as possible. Just for you Olliekins." She says with a smirk of superiority she must have picked up from Percy. "But seriously, what's going on with you and Katie?"

"Who said anything about Katie? Katie and I are done with, we have been for months. I've moved on, it was for the best. We drifted apart as people often do. We were a high school romance, since when do they work out? And don't you dare mention any of the Potters or the Weasleys, they are exceptions to the rule." I rush, spilling out every excuse I could think of using during the last nine months.

Penelope fixes me with a tired stare. "Wood, you said it was my area of expertise. I am an expert at two things: relationships and Arithmacy, and somehow I don't think Puddlemere have given you an Arithmacy problem they'd like you to solve."

I take a sip of tea before staring at my feet. "I was handling it you know? I was ok with living alone, I was ok with the jealousy at even the thought of Katie seeing somebody else. I was ok with being unhappy as long as she was happy, you know? I thought she'd just move on without me, that she'd find someone else who was worthy of her. Someone who wasn't just a Quidditch jock." I swallow hard as my eyes start to burn with tears threatening to fall. "I honestly thought I was giving her a chance to find happiness. It all made sense, you know? I would break up with her, and she'd be sad at first, but eventually, after I didn't get in contact with her, she'd learn to hate me. If she hated me she wouldn't love me, and then she could be happy with someone else. Like George, Lee or even Roger Davies. Hell, I would have even been happy if she had fallen in love with Charlie! And I thought it worked, I saw her out the other night with Lee Jordan so I thought she had to be over me. She was crying when I saw her, Charlie told me it was because she thought I was chatting up some girl. I felt horrible, I had hurt her again… but deep down I was kind of happy, she still loved me. What did I do to deserve someone like Katie? She couldn't love me after I hurt her again, but I hoped that we still had a chance, that's why I wrote to you. But then yesterday Charlie brought me a letter from Katie, I think I've screwed up too much this time P, I can't put her through any more pain, I can't."

We sit in silence before Penny reaches over and places a hand on my shoulder. "You said something about a letter. Can I read it?" Penelope asks in a gentle voice. I nod and motion towards the kitchen table. She picks up the letter and reads it with a look of concentration on her face. I sit in silence as my tears drop into my tea and my face flushes with shame. "What's all this about you being the 'lead actor' and her being the 'supporting actress'?" Penny asks curiosity and concern shining in her eyes as she shows me the section of the letter.

I stare at it for a moment before replying "Oh that, Katie loves muggle movies. She used to watch them with her family. When she moved in with me she missed them so I bought her a TV and a DVD player as well as some DVDs. Every Thursday night was our Movie Night."

"So she was a bit of a movie freak?" Penny chuckled "But seriously Ol, you need to talk to her." She says fixing me with a steely glare.

"I've screwed up to much Penny, I've hurt her too much already. I don't want to hurt her anymore, she doesn't deserve it."

"You're right, she doesn't. Do you seriously believe that avoiding her is making any of this better? She loves you Oliver! Distancing yourself is only hurting her more. If you care about her nearly as much as you claim to then you'll go and apologise for being an ass and beg for her to take you back! I like your old place a lot more than this place, and I hate that lounge. You need Katie, even if it's just to decorate your flat." Penny explodes.

"I won't know what to say, I don't know Katie anymore. We've both changed…" I mutter.

"Wood, you know Katie better than anybody." Penelope says in a somber tone. "You don't forget how to tell someone you love them, and if you have then I pity you."

I stare at Penny in shock as I process her words. What if I never knew how? "We've been through too much. How are we supposed to get back together and act like everything is ok between us? I've hurt her too many times to even deserve another chance!"

"Relationships don't work the way they do on television and in the movies. Will they? Won't they? And then they finally do, and they're happy forever, give me a break. Nine out of ten of them end because they weren't right for each other to begin with, and half of the ones who get married get divorced anyway, and I'm telling you right now, through all this stuff I have not become a cynic. Bottom line is couples who are truly right for each other wade through the same crap as everybody else, but the big difference is they don't let it take them down. One of those two people will stand up and fight for that relationship every time. If it's right, and they're real lucky, one of them will say something." Penelope says in a soft voice before pulling a photo out of the folds of her robes and placing it on the table. Then she gives me a small smile before heading out of the door and into the oncoming night.

I pick up the photo and my jaw drops as I recognise what it is. It's a photo of Katie and I at Fred's funeral. Katie's head in buried in my chest as she cries for the loss of one of her closest friends, and tears flow like rivers down my cheeks as I rub soothing circles onto Katie's back and watch people pay their last respects to Fred. Tears drip off my chin as I place the photo face down on the coffee table. There, in Penny's neat scrawl is 'Go find her'.

Ok, so sorry I took so long to get this chappie up. The life of the unemployed student is full of days of waking up late and playing 'The Sims' on the computer. It could also have something to do with my lovely friend Writers Block who didn't seem to like Penelope very much. So we decided like the mature adults we are that we would come to a compromise: we would include Penelope, but not make her as Preppy or Percy-ish as is generally accepted. Sorry if that annoyed anyone J

Penny's speech about love is from 'Scrubs' the episode 'My Bed Banter and Beyond'. I know usually I have a lil number to reference it right after I use other people's stuff, but I feel it kind of breaks up the flow and I needed the right kind of feel for the end of this chappie. (turning point? Maybe, maybe not. Not even I know just yet!)

Thanks for reading.

Love ya,

DaPimp