Chapter 7

The next morning, Hermione woke bright and early. After getting dressed, she headed down to the Great Hall and peered around at the Gryffindor table. She smiled when she saw Oliver sitting with the twins and a boy she'd heard called Lee Jordan.

"Good morning," she said as she walked over to join them.

"Ah, good morning, lass," Oliver said, turning to look at her with a smile. He reached out and hooked an arm around her waist, drawing her forward along the table as he moved back to make room for her between himself and Lee. "And how did you sleep?"

"Well, thank you," Hermione said as she stepped over the bench and sat down.

"Uh," Lee said, glancing at Oliver and Hermione and then the twin's who were looking at Oliver with grins of anticipation. "What's going on, Oliver?"

"Yeah, Ollie," the twins said, leaning in closer. "What's going on?"

"What - Oh," Oliver said, and blinked as realisation dawned on him. "Guys, this is Hermione. Hermione, this is Lee Jordan, and I'm sure you know the Weasley twins, Fred and George."

"Hello," Hermione said, smiling though her expression revealed her uncertainty.

"Um, Oliver," Lee said. "That wasn't exactly what I meant."

"Didn' I tell you?" Oliver asked. "I invited her to sit with me," he paused and glanced over at Fred and George. "Whenever your brother's being a jerk."

Hermione flushed, feeling rather small when Oliver put his hand on her shoulder.

Lee eyeballed Oliver's hand resting protectively — or possessively — on the girl's shoulder before glancing back at him. "Ollie, that's not what I mean," he said, and sighed, rolling his eyes when Oliver looked at him blankly. "Come on, man," he said. "She's a first year!" He paused and looked at her before adding, "seriously, no offence."

"No," Hermione said quietly, lowering her eyes. "Of course not."

Oliver groaned. "That's not how it is at all," he said, as realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. "Look, Hermione here is my friend. She's having a hard time with their brother," he said, nodding toward the twins. "I didn't want her to have to endure his idiocy and be a loner. You know what it was like first coming to Hogwarts, don't you? Remember how long it took me to make friends? Get your mind outta the gutter, Jordan, for all intents and purposes, she's like my little sister! Treat her with respect!"

Hermione blinked in surprise, looking up at Oliver and then to the twins and Lee, who she saw had the decency to look admonished.

"Oh, um," Lee stammered. "Sorry."

"Yeah," George said.

"Our little brother has anger management issues," Fred said.

"Totally," George replied.

"Do you think it's because of all the times we pranked him?" Fred asked, looking at George.

"Naw," George replied. "Although it might be because everyone always told him mum and dad wanted a girl..."

Hermione laughed, covering her mouth when she glanced toward the door as it opened and saw Harry and Ron enter the Great Hall.

"Anyway," Fred said, drawing her attention.

"Welcome to this end of the table," he harmonised with his twin.

"Thank you," Hermione replied, smiling at all of them as she reached for a plate and began filling it and tucking in to eat, the tension suddenly broken. "Oh, Oliver?" she asked once she was nearly finished.

"Aye, lass?" Oliver asked, almost done with his own breakfast.

"I need to talk to you..."

"Alright," he said.

Hermione looked at the others in uncertainty and bit her lip. "Well... it's not something I can share with everyone...'' She paused and looked at the twins and Lee. "Sorry..." she apologised, wincing slightly. "I mean, I'd gladly share with you all if I could... it's just... Well, really... I'm not even supposed to know..."

"Hey," George said, drawing her attention.

"It's alright," Fred added.

"Yeah, no problem," Lee joined in.

"We all have our secrets," Fred finished, smiling at her.

"Now, go on, you two," Lee said as Fred and George pushed them both away from the table.

Hermione smiled her thanks as she and Oliver got up.

"Yeah, we'll catch up later," Fred and George said as Hermione and Oliver headed out of the Great Hall.

Hermione hesitated only slightly as she felt Ron's heated glare on her as they passed him and Harry on their way out to the doors.

"So," Oliver said once they passed through the doors into the entrance hall. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Um, well," Hermione said nervously, looking around. "Is there somewhere private we can go? It's not something that I really want anyone to find out about..."

"Hmm," Oliver said thoughtfully. "I know a place," he said slyly, and then bit his lip. "You might not like it though..."

She arched her brow at him.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, meeting her gaze.

"Yes, but..."

"Alright then, come on..." he said, taking her hand and leading her outside.

"Oliver, I'm not so sure about this," Hermione said nervously when she saw that they weren't just heading for the Quidditch pitch, but for the broom cupboard and saw him pull out a key and open it.

"Come on, Hermione," he said. "It'll be fine. I'll be with you the whole time."

"But..." she said, looking nervous when he only pulled out one broomstick and locked the cupboard again.

"Trust me, lass," Oliver said, and looked up as a soft breeze blew, ruffling the banners on the towers. "The quietest, most private place in the world is up there." He looked back at her to see her grin and nod. "Come on," he said, and led her out onto the field. "I know you're not so thrilled about this, and I don't mean to push you, but breakfast is almost over and I don't want you to be late for class."

"What do I do?" Hermione asked uneasily, not sure Madam Hooch's instructions were fit for two people on a broom.

Oliver held out his hand, and she took it as he held the broom out to his side. "Now," he said, leading her gently in front of him. "Step up to the broom and mount it."

"Um, Oliver," Hermione said. "Just how am I supposed to do that? My broom didn't do anything but roll over during my flying lesson, remember?"

"Oh, right," Oliver said, making a slight face. He paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, then brightened. "You remember when I told you about my mom's family when I was small?"

"Yes, of course," Hermione asked, looking puzzled at the turn of conversation.

"Well, one thing I remember about my cousins is they had a stick horse," he said.

Hermione arched her brow in confusion.

"You know, a hobby horse, did you ever have one growing up?"

Hermione blinked, and blushed slightly. "W-well yeah... I had one when I was about four or five."

Oliver smiled. "Alright then, that's perfect."

Hermione arched her brow questioningly, wondering if he was truly sane.

Leading her in front of him again, and tightening his hold to steady the broom in the other, he said, "Just think of the broom as a hobby horse, how did you get on to play?"

Blushing slightly, and nearly losing her balance, Hermione stepped gingerly over the broom. "Alright now, move up a little further and grip the handle. I'm going to be right behind you so you won't fall, okay?"

Hermione nodded as she felt Oliver move up behind her seat on the broom. She wobbled a bit, her toes barely touching the ground, and he reached out to steady her before moving his arms around hers to take hold of the handle as well.

"Alright, ready now?" he asked.

"N-not really," Hermione admitted nervously.

Oliver chuckled. "Relax," he murmured. "You'll do fine. And here we go." He pushed off and they rose into the air. "Now, relax your legs, just like you're sitting in a chair. There you go, perfect."

Hermione blushed, grinning.

"See, you're flying," Oliver said. "That's not so hard, is it?"

Hermione relaxed slowly and looked around. "Wow," she said, keeping her eyes on the horizon. "It's so beautiful up here."

"Aye, that it is, lass," Oliver said. "Now, what did you want to talk to me about? We have maybe about ten minutes of flight time."

"Well," Hermione glanced back at him and bit her lip. "I really wanted to tell you when Harry was first made Seeker after our flying lesson..."

"But, you were mad at me?" Oliver asked.

Hermione nodded, looking at him apologetically. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about, lass," Oliver said. "So what was it?"

"Well," Hermione said. "I - I know why the third floor is off limits. At - at least part of it."

"Really?" Oliver asked in surprise.

Hermione nodded.

"And how exactly did you find out?" Oliver asked, arching a brow as he steered the broom around the pitch.

"Well, um, that's a bit of a longer story," Hermione hedged. "I'm not really sure that we have time for the telling."

"Okay..." Oliver drawled. "So what did you find?"

Hermione looked at him over her shoulder and said uneasily. "A giant three headed dog..."

Oliver blanched and the broom dipped slightly but suddenly, causing Hermione to cry out in surprise. "Woah!" Oliver said, levelling it out and getting it under control again as he tightened his arms around her. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It - it's okay," Hermione said, still slightly shaken but relaxing again as the broom became steady under her once more.

"It just surprised me, that's all," Oliver admitted. "I mean, why would Dumbledore have something like that locked in a school?"

"I know," Hermione said. "I thought the same thing. All I know is that it was there guarding something. It was standing on a trap door. To be honest, I'm not really all that curious about it, but it's Harry I'm worried about. He just... he can't let things go."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked as he moved the broom lower, gradually this time, so he didn't scare her again.

"Well, he's got it in his head that Professor Snape hates him personally," Hermione said. "I'm not sure he sees that even though he gets picked on, he's not the only one. Neville does too, and so do some other Gryffindors."

"Yeah," Oliver said as they gently touched down. "It's definitely not only the first years that Professor Snape has it out for, he's docking points all the time from Fred and George."

Hermione laughed. "I've seen them in the common room. I'm not surprised," she said as Oliver helped her off the broom, and they took it back to the broom cupboard.

"Yeah, those two really get under his skin," Oliver said laughing as they headed back up to the castle. "You know how he talks in that slow... pointed... drawl?" Oliver mimicked causing Hermione to laugh aloud and nod. "Well, it's fun to watch him get so irritated that he can hardly maintain it for the hour or two that they're in his class. Speaking of class," Oliver said as they reached the castle.

"Yeah, I know," Hermione said.

Oliver smiled. "I'll see you later, lass."

"Sure," Hermione replied with a smile. "Oh, and I'll write to you later to answer your question about what happened."

"Alright, lass," Oliver said as he began to walk away. "Have a good day."

"You too, Oliver," Hermione replied as she headed in the opposite direction. "And thanks for the flying lesson."

"Any time, lass," Oliver said and waved.