Chapter 05:
Hermione owled Oliver with date plans for Saturday and he agreed. He flooed to the Burrow and saw her sitting by the big window in the den with a book in her hands. He smiled at that. It seemed like a very familiar sight to him. He remembered that every time he had seen her at Hogwarts, she'd had a book in her hands, head bent down. Even when she came to the practice sessions to support Harry, she would still be bent on some book on another, only looking up once in a while to ensure Harry was safe, and then go back to her reading.
"Good morning lass," he called while dusting the soot off his clothes.
Hermione looked up from her book, a little confused, then her eyes bulged, ready to pop out when she recognised him. He looks hot, Hermione thought, blushing a little, eyeing his form fitting dark blue denims and plain white button down shirt rolled up till a little below his elbows, a coat draped casually over an arm.
He had finished dusting the last bit of soot off and looked up just in time to see Hermione thoroughly checking him out. "Will I do alright?" he asked amused, smile evident in his voice, lips crinkling in a smile.
"Oh stop it! You look good and you know it!" she threw back a little flustered, eyes rolling.
He smirked, "It's always nice to be appreciated, though. Warms my heart" he winked.
"Trust me when I say this Wood, the last thing you need is a little more ego stroking – it's as big as it comes anyway."
If it was just some random bird he was trying to charm the pants off, he would've never missed such an obvious opening and easily let it slip that his ego was not the only thing 'as big as it comes'. But she was not a random girl, for one, she was the Hermione Granger who knew way too many hexes for her own good and two, they were supposed to be getting married soon and three, he had no idea where she came from on any front, and wasn't sure if she'd appreciate or hex his response off. So he bit his inner cheek and held his hands up in mock surrender. "On that note then, shall we make a move?"
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Let me just grab my coat. We'll have to walk till the apparition point beyond the garden, from there I'll side apparate you along. Oh and before I forget, Mrs. Weasley has invited you over for the Sunday family fiesta tomorrow. You should come, it's usually a lot of fun."
He creased his nose at that, "A few questions lass, where are we going? And what exactly is a family fiesta?"
"Oh that! I thought about the place for a while, you know some place we could actually sit and talk undisturbed and then realised that between us, we'd actually have to cross hemispheres to find such a place, so I thought we could go into muggle London. I know a few nice places there. They may not be particularly quiet, but we'll have privacy to talk, I guarantee it…..Oh come on, don't look so shocked, I'll protect you, I promise," she smiled, mischief turning her eyes warm caramel. "And the family fiesta is actually the Sunday lunch. Everyone gets together and we have lots of food and fun. Everyone is getting in their better-halves-to-be tomorrow so you're invited too. But don't worry, if you don't want to or can't, I'm sure everyone will understand," she gave a small smile at that too but it didn't quite reach her eyes this time.
She speaks with her eyes, he smiled. "Thank you for the promise of protection, and remember no one is gonna thank ya for riskin the Puddlemere Captain's neck," he joked to lighten the mood. "And for tomorrow, I think I'll come. It'll be nice to actually chat up with everyone after a long time." It'll be nice to see you in a different light too he mused.
!
She apparated them to a by-lane and from there they walked to a quaint little coffee shop opposite Trafalgar Square. They sat down opposite each other on the plush chairs. A waiter came in and handed them two menus.
"The food sure looks different," Oliver said after 10 minutes of blankly staring at the menu without a clue of what to order.
She chuckled. "Would you like me to order for you this time around?" she offered.
He shrugged, "Sure, why not."
"So what do you like to eat? Eggs? Chicken? Bacon? Sausages? ….."
He grinned, "All of the above."
She just shook her head. "Okay… what juices do you like? Orange? Pineapple? Apple?..."
"How about pumpkin?"
"That might not be an option. It's a muggle joint after all."
"Surprise me then."
She smiled and ordered food for them both. They mutely stared at each other till it came. He gobbled down a few bites and complemented the taste and their morning began. They got chatting, a few tits and bits here and there, about trivial things, big dreams and everything in between. About quidditch and his love for it, about books and her love for them, and about how one hated the other's passion with vengeance!
"Do you know how unsafe it is. The recent statistics show…. And don't even get me started on brooms!" she tried to inform him.
"Really! But that's just so boring! Imagine sitting in one place all through the day and reading a big tome just for kicks….." he was aghast.
And yet it was gone 4 by the time he looked at his watch again and he was surprised at how easily conversation flowed between them. That and the thing called coffee. He was really getting to like its bitter punch after about his 3rd cup!
"Oh my! Did you look at the time?" she gasped aghast at the watch and at the number of cups littering their table. "I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight with all that caffeine in my system."
Me too Oliver thought in his mind, but probably for different reasons and smiled.
"Walk?" she asked. He nodded and asked for the check.
When the time came for settling it, they both reached for it at the same time. "No chance am I letting you pay for this lass."
"Really? Okay then, do you have any muggle money on you now?"
He froze! Of course he didn't. Who carried it any ways? And he said as much.
She smiled at that. "We are at a muggle joint Wood! Now, drop the check and let me settle it."
He blushed at his stupidity. "Only if you promise to let me pay you back for this."
"No. But I'll let you plan our next date and pay for it too. Sounds alright?"
She is giving me a second date! Of course that sounded great! "Okay. I relent" he said and passed the check to her. She pulled out a small green card sort of a thing and the waiter used a machine and in a minute he returned her card and they were good to go.
"That's funny money" Oliver mused when they were out the door.
She threw her head back and laughed at that. The sound warmly rolling over Oliver. He took a small tentative step towards her, getting his hand out to push back a wayward curl from her face when someone called for him from the back.
"Ollie? Is that you?"
He froze. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. He turned, his movements a little stilted, pain darkening his warm brown eyes as he looked at the blonde now standing in front of him. "I must say I'm pleasantly surprised to see you here at the muggle side of the town Ollie." She gave him a long hug, pulling him flush against herself. He stiffened. They, rather the blonde, spoke to him for a few more minutes while Oliver just stood there looking flummoxed, she then kissed him on his cheek and walked away promising to see him at the stadium on the following Monday. Hermione just hung back through the entire exchange, wondering about her future course of action. She saw Oliver watch the other woman as she left and she knew what she had to do.
"Could you be any more obvious? You're almost drooling at her," she teased.
He froze again. He had forgotten about Hermione! He felt like a heel.
"You're allowed to look Wood. We're here because we were forced, you can't be expected to forget your life before the law," she said, taking him by surprise. It showed in his eyes.
She smiled. "I might be young but I'm not stupid! In fact," she added in a conspiratorial tone, "some might even call me the brightest witch of the age."
His laugh was a little strained at that.
She guided them towards Trafalgar Square. "Tell me about her," she smiled encouragingly.
If he wasn't so flustered about his current predicament, he would have laughed at the absurdity of the situation but he was way too flustered to think straight so he came clean with all his feeling for the blonde.
She was Tatyana. An American recruited by the ministry to scout for talent for England's national team that would represent the country at the next world cup in 2 years' time. He had met her then and felt an extremely strong pull. He had taken every chance to meet up with her after that and thankfully, because of their overlapping jobs he'd had many opportunities to do just that. He had thought of her as the one for him. She was beautiful, smart and shared his passion for quidditch. She was probably everything he had wanted in his partner and more, he told Hermione infatuatedly and then bit his tongue hard when he realized whom he was talking to.
She walked quietly beside him, listening keenly. "Do you love her?" she asked softly.
He understood the weight of his next words but he wanted to establish an honest relationship with his wife-to-be. "I thought, with enough time, I would get there…happily."
She just nodded. "I think she likes you too, you know. And you two would make a much better quidditch couple than us." He just shrugged, not knowing how to react to that. It was all very weird for him – talking about his love life with his ministry intended!
"I am sorry it had to be this way Oliver. I promise I'll try my level best to ensure your happiness." One way or another, I'll find a way, she promised to herself and him, silently.
He gave a half smile at that. He knew she would. He hoped he would do the same for her too. "I am sorry, this all got a little too heavy for a first date. Not to mention just bizarre and wrong!"
She looked at him, with quiet, serene eyes, "Not at all. I won't change a thing about our day." Then pulling at his hand she took him towards a humongous giant wheel.
"It's the London Eye. My parents and I used to come here on their anniversary each year. My father, it seems proposed my mother here, so it had a special place in their hearts. Come I'll take you along. You'll enjoy this."
They were up in a big sphere, looking at the twinkling lights beneath. They were both looking out, each lost in their own world. "I'd forgotten how beautiful this all was" she whispered, as if speaking to herself.
He smiled at that and looked at her. She was again in a skinny pair of jeans and a soft cotton t-shirt with a jacket thrown on her shoulders, complete with yet another pair of converses snugly wrapping her feet, looking out through the glass, wonder making her eyes shine brightly. "Sometimes I just wish you two were here, with me…." she trailed off, as if realizing she had said that out aloud. He saw her wiping at an unshed tear through her reflection and turn back to face him. "Thank you for coming here with me tonight. It means a lot to me" she stated. By then they had reached the ground and she shuffled to get out, Oliver moving out right behind her. By the time they were out, she had herself under control again.
"Dinner or home?" she asked.
"Dinner. But this time at Diagon Alley. I will not have you paying again."
She laughed. "I promised you I'd let you do the honors next time, didn't I? Now come on."
And she was again pulling his arm and leading him towards a busy street full of food vendors.
"Choose what you like. You'll get some of the world's best cuisines here."
And just like that, their camaraderie from earlier was back and they got talking smoothly again.
About an hour and a half later, he dropped her back at the Burrow. "I had a nice day Wood, thank you" she whispered and kissed his cheek.
He resisted the urge to run the tips of his fingers over the part she had kissed and promised to be back the next morning for the family get together and apparated out.
Hermione walked back to the homestead, plotting her next course of action….