Sitting on the Hogwarts Express, Oliver's mind drifted back to the confusion of the last week. The Chamber of Secrets mystery being solved, but no satisfactory answer being given. The young Weasley girl being wild eyed, and silent as she walked around Hogwarts and sat in the Common Room. Harry Potter living in the Hospital Wing yet again. The rumours going around the school was that he had fought and killed a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Oliver didn't know how the boy did it. Everyone had successfully woken up, and everyone was as right as rain. To top everything off, Gryffindor had won the House Cup. Oliver smiled out the window as the train lurched and began to pull out of the Hogsmeade station. Aquila slid the door shut behind her quietly. She smiled at Oliver sadly as she sat down next to him.
"I'll miss you." he said, immediately. They would only spend about a month apart before they were to meet again. They had to tell their families, and then Aquila was going to visit him in Balloch.
"I know you will." she said, quietly, before she planted a very soft kiss on his lips. Kissing was still very new to him. He had thought that it would be something he would like to try. He liked Aquila's sweet kisses. They made him smile. He brushed the backs of his knuckles over her cheek, delicately, before he stared back out the window.
"So in a week, I'll meet you in the Leaky Cauldron and you'll take me up to Scotland?" Oliver nodded, feeling nervous and excited about having Aquila in his home.
"My parents are going to love you." He thought maybe he loved her, but it was still too early to say.
"My parents will be interested to know about you, but if my grandmother catches wind of you, she'll dig into your family history to figure out if you're a pureblood or not. She's dying to marry me off when I'm of an age, but my parents won't let her." Oliver was reminded of the difference in the social classes. She was an ancient family, esteemed and traditional. His dad worked in a broomstick shop, and his mum sold potions in a small shop that she owned. That's where he got his talents from. Aquila's parents lived in a mansion and had titles. He was glad she was going to spend time with his family first.
"What are you two lovebirds talking about?" George bundled himself into their compartment. Aquila gave him a scornful look.
"Strategies for next year's tournament. Obviously. And grow up, George." George rolled his eyes and groaned.
"Do you ever stop, Oliver?!" He could only laugh. Angelina wasn't far behind George, and she sat herself down next to ginger boy.
"Can't believe next year is your last year Oliver… What will we do without you?" He shook his head as Fred pushed his way in with Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet.
"Don't remind me. I swear, by all the Quidditch gods, you had better play your pants off next year, or I'll haunt you for the rest of your lives!" He gave them each a stern look. They laughed at their Captain, and continued the rest of the train journey basking in the sun streaming through the windows, talking the day away.
Oliver wrung his hands nervously at a table in the Leaky Cauldron as he sat waiting. The month had been longer than expected. They had written to each other back and forth frequently. The summer in Ireland was disgraceful as always, according to Aquila, and she couldn't wait to lie in the sun on the shores of Loch Lomond. Oliver tapped nervously, looking up every time the door opened. He had a terrible feeling that she wasn't going to show up. That it had all been a terrible misunderstanding. That she didn't like him at all. She had met another boy when she was home, who was better than Oliver. That something bad had happened to her. He was nearly sick with nerves. He heard a CRACK outside the door, and he held his breath. The door opened and sunlight streamed in behind a girl with impossibly long hair. Aquila never wore her hair down, it couldn't be her. But in she strode, her hair in neat, beautiful waves that softened her face, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. She was even wearing some makeup. She had a bag slung over her shoulder, and she was walking towards him. She was flushed, and smiling. She looked delighted if he was being honest. His heart was hammering hard and furiously in his chest. This was happening. He was taking a girl home to meet his parents. He stood up to greet her, a grin spreading across his face. She dropped her bag and threw her arms around him, in delight. She planted kisses along his ears, and squeezed him with her long arms. Her soft hair tickled his face, but he didn't care. He held her all the tighter, never wanting to let her go.
"You came." he said, very quietly. She took, a step back, holding him at arms-length, taking in his every detail. He looked at her in a similar way. She was prettier than he remembered. The happy look on her face wider, and more attractive than ever.
"As if I could stay away…" she mumbled back, looking so happy, he actually thought she would cry. He kissed her, very tentatively. She kissed him back. So she still liked him then.
"We should get going…" Oliver said, feeling a little bit abashed, but so pleased with himself. She took his hand, squeezing it tight for a second, and walked with him out into the yard that faced Diagon Alley. He held hand tightly, then turned in the air, thinking of home. He felt the familiar compression around him, the vacuum of sound. He kept his eyes squeezed shut until he heard little sparrows chirping at him from the rose bush in his back garden. Aquila sighed happily in the sun, and stared around her at the big garden.
"Oliver… It's beautiful!" She grinned, and turned to see Oliver's parents sitting out in the garden, lazing in the sun.
"Hello son! And you must be Aquila!" Oliver's dad said, as he got up to shake her hand. Aquila smiled prettily at the man, shaking his hand firmly, and speaking gently.
"We've heard you're a Valentine. Can't imagine your parents are too happy that you're parading around with a halfblood…" Oliver's mother would have to be won over it seemed. Aquila hit her with her best smile.
"My parents think your Oliver sounds like a lovely young wizard. And I'm actually a halfblood myself, Mrs. Wood. My mother is a muggleborn." Oliver's mum looked a little bit taken aback. He decided this was the perfect time to jump in and take her into the house.
"I should show Aquila around, mum. Dad." He nodded at his father, who nodded back.
Still holding hands, Oliver guided her to the house, a small gate house to a fancy Norman villa up the hill. The rooms were bigger than they appeared from the outside. Oliver had always suspected magic.
"We don't have a guest room, I'm afraid. I'll sleep on the couch, if you don't mind taking my bed." They stood in Oliver's large magically enhanced bedroom. A large poster of Puddlemere United took over a portion of the wall. He felt suddenly embarrassed by it. At least he kept everything tidy at all times. She frowned at him, as she set down her bag.
"Why can't you stay in here? The bed is big enough." He swallowed hard.
"I just didn't want you think I was being presumptuous. Or for you to be uncomfortable." She smiled at him.
"Why don't you take me to the lake, and we can talk about it?" He nodded, and led her out the front of his house on a walk through the village. He warned her beforehand that it was a muggle village. No magic. The walk took less time than they thought, as they were full of talk about everything that had happened the last two months.
When they finally got to walking around the lake, they found a quiet shore to sit, alone, on the trunk of a washed up tree. Aquila took off her shoes, and let the tide of the lake lap at her feet. They sat in silence that felt a little bit awkward. Oliver told himself that now was the time to tell her, in case she expected things of him.
"Aquila… I have to tell you. I…. I really like you. I like holding you, and kissing you, and spending time with you. But anything else beyond that… I. I couldn't. I'm sorry. I couldn't feel that way about anyone. I just… I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I don't want you to expect things of me, and to be disappointed." He was scared. He was scared of that level of intimacy. The thought of it made him squirm. But he was also scared of her rejection. Aquila was quiet for a time, but he saw a wistful smile on her lips.
"The last month I've been trying to figure out how to have this conversation…" Had she suspected him? "I thought to myself that I was deceiving you. That you would be so mad with me when I told you. That you'd reject me and tell me to go home. But… You took the words right out of my mouth." She looked up into his eyes, and tears of relief and happiness were spilling down her cheeks. He exhaled heavily and gaped at her. He wrapped her in his arms, suddenly, holding her close. She cried. Happy tears, and he felt like crying himself. He was relieved. She was like him. She wasn't going to leave him because he would never sleep with her. He held her close, and thanked whatever god had blessed him with her. That night as they shared a bed together for the first time, he pulled her close as she slept to feel each breath she took, burying his face in his hair. He finally let years' worth of tears escape him. He wasn't the only one.