Chapter 19
Amelia woke the morning after the party to the pecking of an owl, Oliver's owl, on her window. She grudgingly got out of bed to get the letter, trying to ignore the blistering headache that she had thanks to several firewhiskeys. She took the letter and gave the bird a treat. "Great," she thought. "Just bloody fantastic."
She pulled a sweater on and went to the common room to read the letter alone before her roommates woke up. Oliver wrote that he missed her and would floo call her that night and asked her to be in the common room at 10:00. She was about to head back to her dormitory when she heard Fred from the stairs. "Morning, love," he said. "Interesting night last night?"
"Happy birthday, Fred," she said, ignoring the question.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. He sat next to her on the sofa and put his arm around her shoulders.
"No," she said. She leaned into Fred and put her head on his shoulder.
"Are you going to tell Oliver?"
"I don't know," she answered. "Should I?"
"I'm probably not the best moral compass for you," he joked. "But, look, it was a kiss that lasted all of 20 seconds and really it looked more like that Ravenclaw bloke just slobbered on your cheek."
"If it was your girlfriend, would you want to know?" she asked.
"That depends on whether it meant something to her," he replied. "If it did, I think she'd have to tell me. If it didn't mean anything to her, I wouldn't want to know." She nodded and Fred left her alone.
Throughout the day, Amelia was quiet. She hid out in the library, with the excuse that she had homework to do. Cedric joined her in the library after lunch. "What's got you all quiet?" he asked.
"Something happened last night," she answered. "And I'm not sure what to do about it."
"What happened?"
"We had a party for the twins and I got drunk," she started. "Then, I got kissed by some Ravenclaw bloke."
"Have you told Oliver?"
"We have a floo chat tonight and I'm not sure what to tell him," she said. "I kissed back and I feel like I've cheated on him."
"If he did the same thing, would you want him to tell you?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "I love Oliver, but I'm worried that if I don't tell him, someone else will and he'll be even angrier. But if it was me, I'm not sure I'd want to know if he didn't have any intention of seeing her again, or kissing her again."
"When do you see him again?" Cedric asked.
"We have a floo chat tonight and then I'm going to his flat for the Easter holidays," she answered. "We meant to spend the week together and he got me tickets to a Quidditch match during the break for Christmas."
"Easter holidays are only a few days away," Cedric started. "Perhaps you should wait to tell him until you see him and then, you can decide if it's really necessary."
"Thanks, Ced," Amelia said. "I should get back to my commons. He's supposed to call soon." Cedric gave her a small wave and she walked back to Gryffindor tower.
During their floo chat that day, and the next one they had a few days later, Oliver noticed that Amelia seemed more reserved than normal, but he didn't say anything. He also seemed distant to her, but she didn't ask him either. "So, I'll be there on Saturday," she said at the end of the conversation. "What time would be best for me to arrive?"
"Anytime," he answered. "I'll be home all day. If anything changes, like an emergency practice or something, I'll leave a key over the door."
"Okay," she replied. "I'll see you Saturday, then."
"Love you," he said.
"Love you, too." Oliver's head popped out of the fire and Amelia went back to her dormitory.
Saturday dawned with a cold front and the sky was gray and cloudy. Amelia felt nervous glancing at the sky as she walked across the grounds to Hogsmeade. She had decided to leave school just after breakfast. Once she got to the High Street in Hogsmeade, she apparated to Oliver's flat in Puddlemere.
When she arrived, Oliver was out, having been called in to an early practice. She let herself in with the key that he left for her and put her bag in his room. Then, she sat on the sofa with a book to wait. She had been having trouble sleeping, so she drifted off. She was woken by Oliver returning from practice, sweaty and dirty.
"Morning, love," he said, nudging her.
"Hey," she said, sitting up. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"It's alright," he promised. "You've been busy with school and everything. So, I'm going to shower, since I left the stadium before I could. Care to join me?"
"I'm fine, but you should go and I'll make tea," she said.
"I'd prefer if you join me," he teased, stripping off his shirt and tossing it at her. Then, he marched over to her, kissed her, and threw her over his shoulder. She was smacking him on the back, but they were both giggling. When he reached his room, he dropped her onto his bed.
"I thought you were going to take a shower," she teased, when he plopped onto his bed next to her.
"I am, but not before I do this." He leaned over and kissed her soundly. He stroked her side while she ran her hands through his hair. She scratched her nails down his back and he tugged on her shirt. They broke the kiss so that Oliver could pull Amelia's shirt over her head and toss it across the room.
Before Oliver could kiss Amelia anymore, she pushed back and said, "Shower!"
"Come with me," he pled. She nodded and let him pull her up. After their shower, Oliver and Amelia fell back into his bed where they shagged until they were exhausted. When they finished, they took a nap.
Amelia woke first and slipped out of bed. She pulled on a shirt and some knickers and went into the bathroom. She didn't understand why, but she started to cry. She sat on the edge of the tub, nearly sobbing, and trying to calm down for several minutes. When she finally settled enough to stop crying, she returned to Oliver's living room, taking up her favorite seat on the window sill.
Oliver woke alone and confused. Something was nagging at him, a sinking feeling that all was not right. He had asked Amelia if everything was alright and she assured him that it was, but he didn't necessarily believe her. When he realized she wasn't in bed with him, he pulled on some clothes and went looking for her. He found her, gazing out the window like she always did when she was troubled.
"What's bothering you?" he asked, making her jump.
"You've really got to stop sneaking up on me," she ordered.
"You've got to be more observant," he suggested. "And you haven't answered my question. What's bothering you?"
"It's nothing," she promised.
"Don't lie, Ames," he said. "You at least owe me the truth."
"It's been a rough couple of weeks," she finally answered. "I've had a couple more job and training offers and I'm still not sure what I want to do."
"That's not everything." Oliver made a statement rather than asked a question, but they both knew he was right. Amelia was still fighting within herself over whether to tell him about the kiss at the twins' birthday party.
Oliver sighed and finally suggested that they get dressed and get something to eat. Amelia nodded, and moved silently. When they were ready, Oliver led them to a small diner near his flat and got them a booth in the corner. They both ordered something to eat and sat in an awkward silence until the waitress returned. "This is almost worse than Christmas. Will you just tell me what is wrong?" Oliver said.
"I can't say it here," Amelia replied. "We should wait until we get back."
Oliver tossed some money onto the table and grabbed her hand. He dragged her to an alley and apparated them back to his flat. "We're alone now. Tell me what is going on."
"I went to the twins' birthday party," she explained. "There was a lot of firewhiskey there. I was hiding in a corner, ignoring everyone when this bloke, Henry Adams, from Ravenclaw sat next to me. He kissed me."
"Is that everything?" Oliver asked; if he was honest, if that was it he would be fine.
"I kissed back," she replied. "It was only for a second and then I pushed him away and ran." She had tears streaming down her face.
Oliver was fighting tears and finally stormed off to his bedroom. He quickly changed into running gear and left her sitting on the sofa while he stormed out into the fading afternoon light. Amelia didn't know what to do, so she wrote Oliver a note and apparated back to her parents' house in Leeds.
"Dear, I thought you were staying at school," Camilla said when Amelia arrived.
"I lied about that," she replied. "I'm sorry, but I went to Oliver's and I don't think it's going to work out." She burst into tears and her mother just pulled her into a hug, doing everything she could to soothe her. Amelia was nearly inconsolable.
When she finally settled some, Camilla pulled her into the den and sat her down. "Tell me everything," she ordered. And Amelia did. She spilled about everything from sneaking around all summer to the party in Gryffindor tower for the Twins' birthday; she spared almost no details.
There was a long silence when Amelia finished speaking. "I'm not going to lie and tell you everything will be alright, Amelia," Camilla said finally. "I will tell you that it will get easier. What did Oliver do when you told him about the party?"
"He got quiet, looked like I had just punched him in the gut, and then he went running. He didn't yell or say anything at all. I really hurt him," she finished.
"Does he know where you are?"
"I left him a note, Mum," Amelia promised. "You raised me better than to just run off."
Almost as soon as the words were out of Amelia's mouth, she heard the familiar pop that signaled that someone had just apparated. She knew who was there before Oliver knocked on the door. She opened the door. "You left," he accused.
"You ran," she fired back.
"I had to blow off some aggression," he explained. "What happened to us?"
"I don't know." It wasn't much, but at least Amelia was telling the truth.
"Is it really over?" he asked.
"I think it needs to be," she replied. "At least while I'm still in school. Neither of us knows how to do this long distance and it's been killing us all year." She asked Oliver to wait in the sitting room and went to her room where she retrieved the Quidditch tickets he had bought her for Christmas.
When she returned, she handed the tickets to Oliver and said, "It's not right for me to keep these. You should have them back."
"You don't have to," he said. "They were a gift to you. You should use them."
"With whom? My muggle parents or brothers?" she reasoned. "Take your dad."
They sat quietly for a long time until Oliver said, "I'm going to miss you."
"Me too," she promised. "I've missed you every day, but it's not fair to either one of us to keep beating this dead horse." She led Oliver to the door, gave him a last hug and quick kiss on the cheek. Then, he turned and apparated back to Puddlemere.
When Amelia returned to school at the end of the week, her friends were waiting for her. "So, how was the week? Lots of sex?" Charity asked.
"We broke up," Amelia answered. She climbed onto her bed, pulled the curtains closed and ignored Kate and Charity's pleading for an explanation, crying herself to sleep.
Classes resumed the day after Amelia got back and she continued to ignore the pestering from her friends to explain what had happened with Oliver. She didn't want to explain it to them; she felt it would cheapen what she and Oliver had. Because of that, however, she felt the loneliest she ever had and started counting the days to graduation.
One night, a few days before the final task, she was doing rounds with Cedric. "Are you o.k., Amelia?" he asked.
"No," she answered. "I haven't been o.k. for a while."
"What's wrong?"
"A lot of things," she explained. "Oliver and I broke up and I've never felt lonelier. I have no idea what I want to do when I graduate, except that I know I don't want to keep living with my parents."
"What about healer training?" Cedric asked.
"I'm just not sure. I've been offered training spots at St. Mungo's and with a few Quidditch teams, but I don't know," she said. By the time she finished, she was crying. Cedric pulled her to the nearest bench and sat her down, throwing his arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head on his shoulder and cried until she fell asleep. Cedric didn't want to wake her, so he picked her up and carried her to Gryffindor tower.
"Ames, you're going to have to wake up," he said when they reached the portrait. "I don't know the password."
"It's Mimbulus Mimbletonia," she muttered. Cedric said the password to the Fat Lady and carried her into the common room, where he laid her on the sofa and covered her with a throw blanket. He gained several glares from Gryffindors, but the twins noticed what was going on and sent everyone off.
"Thanks for bringing her back, Cedric," George said. "Is she alright?"
"I don't know," Cedric answered, truthfully. "She cried for a while and we didn't entirely finish our rounds, but by the time she stopped crying, she had fallen asleep." Fred and George nodded, and saw Cedric out of the tower.
Amelia woke on the sofa where Cedric had left her. George crept up on her and suggested a walk. "So, I hear your life has been pretty shit lately," he said.
"That's about right," she replied.
"What can I do?" he asked.
"There's nothing you can do, George," she assured him. "At least, there's nothing you can do that you're not already doing."
A few days later, Amelia joined the rest of the school at the Quidditch pitch for the third, and final, task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She cheered with her housemates for Harry and Cedric, but she screamed when she saw Harry Potter exit the maze with Cedric's lifeless body. She had been sitting with the twins, and they each wrapped her in their arms while she screamed.