Chapter 10:
Oliver came back to the Burrow the following day for the Sunday fiesta. So did everyone else. And that's how Hermione found herself walking yet again towards the Weasley's broom shed.
"Did you all honestly not get enough of this the last time? Why can't I just referee it? I'll be a part of the game and yet on the ground," offered Hermione.
"How do you expect to watch over a game that's played in the air while on the ground?" teased Angelina, "Come Hermione, we'll make a Mrs. Quidditch Star of you yet," and she pulled her in the shed.
This time Oliver did not let Harry help her with the broom. "Do what you do best lass and order it to come up to you" he instructed, fixing her with a pointed glare. She bristled at his insinuation and glared at the broom doing just that and broom knocked her on the face.
"Aaahhh…" she screamed in pain rubbing her forehead and the tip of the nose. Everyone winced. "These things happen to Neville not to me, you idiotic broom. Come here now – up," she tried again glaring holes into the broom and Oliver had to jump up beside her holding his hand in front of her face before it hit her again.
"Here," he said, handing her the broom, keeping his face extremely blank as he did so.
She glared at the broom again and then some at him before snatching it out of his hand and stomping out the shed. Oliver actually felt the waves of hatred radiating from her towards the broom and towards him and he shook with laughter, eyes shining with mirth.
Her flying was as terrible as the last time, the broom was probably returning her hatred with vengeance. She zigzagged all over yet again. When Harry caught the snitch, she pushed her broom downwards to get off it quickly but a shouting match ensued between Harry and Ginny and all the girls flew down to support her. The commotion confused Hermione and she in turn confused the already angry broom. Oliver saw her mistake and winced before zooming towards her yet again.
"Control your thoughts," he screamed, again.
"Sod off Wood," she shouted back.
Their own shouting match threw her angle off and her broom jerked and almost threw her out. Somehow seeing their debacle despite the one he was surrounded in, Harry shot the levitation spell at her and Oliver reached her just in time to pull her on. The only saving grace this time around was that she did not break the broom.
Holding her close to him yet again, Oliver flew away once more. "How can you be so bad at this?" he asked thoroughly agitated.
"I just am!" she threw back at him. "Why? Can't Hermione Granger be bad at anything? Do I need to know everything there is to know?" she screamed. And that's when it hit him, she was bad because she believed she was bad. He had his work cut out for him while taking her out for her flying lessons Oliver realized.
"Why aren't you taking us back to the homestead? Please Oliver, don't do this. Take me back. I've already hurt myself enough today," she said pointing at her still pink forehead and nose.
"That you did," Oliver's amusement at that returned, turning his eyes a mesmerizing shade of liquid gold. "Come here, I'll kiss it better for you," he said, pulling her close and peppering her forehead and nose with small kisses before making his way down to her lips. This time she responded almost immediately, hooking her arms around his neck and it took all of Oliver's control to not push her for more. Soon he promised, breaking their kiss and making his way to the Burrow again.
!
That noon, after lunch, Oliver was ready to kiss George when he suggested that as a punishment the girls should wear whatever their spouses or intendeds gave them from their wardrobe. Oliver felt as if Merlin himself had granted him the opportunity. They all quickly flooed back to their own homes and were tumbling out at the Burrow in no time.
Angelina shrieked when she saw the hideous shirt George brought back for her. "You know I hate it even on you! Why would I wear it?"
"Cause when you do, you'll finally realize how comfy it is and quit talking me into tossing it."
Angelina fumed and pulled the shirt out of his hands promising to quit talking him into it next time onwards and just start tossing things upfront.
"Yeah…. That so went as you'd planned George!" Bill laughed and so did everyone else.
Audrey refused Percy's shirt saying yet again that since he never played he didn't have any right to punish either.
Fleur laughed when Bill joked that all his clothes would be too tight on his wife for the time being. And then she muttered something in French that turned Hermione red, Oliver noticed laughing.
Harry gave Ginny a very weird shirt that he swore was in his wardrobe because Ginny put it there and Ginny turned red in her face as she walked out to change, to the music of Harry laughing behind her saying, "You know what they say about payback."
Oliver handed over his quidditch jersey to Hermione inside which he had placed the box with the engagement ring. He knew she'd find it and have to wear it now.
Ron gave Alicia his auror training uniform.
"But but.. this is your quidditch jersey!" Hermione stammered when he passed it on to her.
"Really? Thanks for pointing it out lass." And Oliver heard the same stammering behind him.
"But… but.. these are your auror robes!" Alicia was saying to Ron.
Ron just furrowed his brows. "What's with these two and their stating of the obvious? Come on, go now, change."
They both meekly nodded and Hermione lead Alicia to the room the girls were changing in. While all the girls were in there, everyone heard a distinct "You scamp….I'm gonna hex you for this," and that was followed by a lot of laughter and boisterous teasing and Oliver was trying real hard to keep a straight face.
She flew down the stairs before all the other girls, wearing his jersey and his ring on her finger. "OLIVER WOOD! By the time I'm done with you, you're gonna wish you never tricked me like this" and she whipped her wand out, pointing it at him.
For his part, Oliver tried really hard to not burst out laughing, and seeing her fumbling for her wand, he said, "I'm gonna take that as my cue and run," and he sprint to the backyard with her at his heels chasing him till the orchards. He hid behind a tree and when she was in just the right place, he trapped her between himself and the tree. Holding her wand hand, he flicked it out of her hands.
Her eyes were lit with her temper and he was sure he had never seen anyone cuter. Then, probably because he had a death wish, he would muse later, he said, "I always thought you'd look great in my jersey. And I promised you I'd find a way to get the ring on your finger before the weekend passes," and he bent his head down to kiss her.
"I'll bite you if come any closer," she warned, fire in her eyes.
He laughed. "I think I'll take my chances lass," and he got her in a kiss that absolutely placated her anger away.
After she was standing there all spent and puffing, she bit back scathingly, "What makes you think I'll keep it there?"
"I'll use a sticking charm if I have to," he shrugged, "But I know now that you have it on, you won't remove it," he winked at her and bent down on one knee. "I won't insult you by asking you to marry me, we both know you have no choice but to do just that. But I promise you Hermione I'll always be there for you. I promise I'll love and cherish you. And I promise I will always keep all my promises to you." He kissed the ring.
Try as she might, Hermione could not keep the colour from rushing up after that and promptly looked the other way to avoid his burning gaze. He smiled and stood up, wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him, "I think this is the part where we kiss," he clued her in and kissed her again. When they broke up, they made their way back to the homestead, holding hands as they did so.
Oliver was welcomed with a lot of slaps on his back from all the boys for his ingenuity.
!
Much later, when the party was almost breaking up after dinner, when Hermione tried to return his jersey to him, he asked her keep it. "It looks way too sexy on you anyway. Wear it again for me someday, then I'll take it back," he said, with a burning look in his eyes, that left Hermione in no doubt about what would follow after she'd worn it the next time.
!
That evening as Hermione walked Oliver till the apparition point, she was plucking at her courage to say what she had to. Oliver was staring at her with a scrunch in his nose, knowing she wanted to probably speak of something discomforting, therefore the lull before the storm.
"Okay, I can't figure out a delicate way to put this so I'm just gonna come out and say it alright?" He nodded, he preferred the blunt honesty anyway. "So I spoke to Kingsley earlier this week, just before he sent me packing again actually and I refused to help out with the auror work after our wedding. He relented and has offered me the use of contraceptive potions. But that news won't be made official or public so we'll still need to follow all the laws but till I'm helping the aurors with their work I have refused to get pregnant. I did not want to harm the unborn child because of my ignorance or stupidity. So at least till November we'll be….clear…? then depending on what career I choose, things may follow."
Oliver thought about it all and agreed that it was the correct thing to do. He would anyway prefer to welcome a child into a stable relationship and maybe they could use this time to do just that before discussing babies again, so he said as much to her.
"And.. and if I don't fall pregnant by the end of the year, we will have the option of separation should we so wish. We can claim my infertility as the reason. You will be awarded a period of a year to mourn, giving you plenty of time to find a nice girl and marry her, so that you aren't forced into anything again. And I will be documented as nearly infertile sparing me from the law, yet giving me the option to remarry should I so wish at a later date. I think it's the best we can expect in this situation" she shrugged.
He thought about that too and none of those thoughts were gentle! Her with another man being the worst one of them all. "Should I be reading something into this? We barely know each other and yet you've successfully found ways to get away from me by the end of the year?" he asked contemptuously.
She shook her head. "No, it's just that… Oliver you should get a chance to choose your partner. You should find a beautiful woman who shares your dreams and passions. You are a good man Oliver, you deserve to be happy. I promised you I'll find a way to do just that. That's my way. The only one I could come up with as of yet, at least."
"Really?" he asked angrily, "that is the only option you could come up with? To ensure my happiness? Tell me something Hermione, does the concept of marriage really mean that little to you? For me marriage entails a forever after, for good and for worse and I would appreciate it if you could wrap that little head of yours around it before you walk down the aisle to say 'I do'. I refuse to have it any other way. Once we are married, that's that for me. No going back. Ever!"
"But that will be forcing yourself to be happy with what you're served. You, Oliver can choose your own stuff from an entire tantalizing buffet! Why would you want to be stuck with me?"
"For whatever reason Hermione, if it's you that has been dished out to me, it's you I'll have. If this is not acceptable to you, speak to Kingsley and find a new match, cause I'm not about to change my notions of marriage for you."
This was met by silence. Then she broke it, "I don't know why I keep putting my foot in my face whenever we discuss marriage! I just wanted to tell you about my chat with Kingsley so that you're aware of everything. I'm not saying we need to do this, all I'm saying is that it's an option we'll have."
Oh the woman is daft! he groaned inwards, but he let the issue drop, knowing now was neither the time nor this the place to try to knock some sense into her. With time, he'd change her views, he promised to himself. "I'm letting it go for now but only because this is not a good time or place to discuss this. I will not change my views about holy matrimony so think about what you want to do before tying the knot with me" he instructed her instead in no uncertain terms.
Just when he was about to apparate away, she held his hand, "Oliver wait. Let's not fight and leave it at that. If something happens to me I'd hate to think I left one angry scot behind."
He weighed her words and played them to his advantage. "Fine. I'm ready to kiss and make up. And I hope this tips the scales in my favor," he said and brought her to him in a kiss like no other she'd ever had. He chastised her, forgave her and turned her into a big ball of taut nerves ready to snap any minute, with that one kiss. Throwing a long hungry look her way, he was gone with loud crack.
She touched her finger tips to her lips, gasping Oliver as she did so – his kisses speak. Warning herself to not get too used to them, she made her way back to the Burrow.