Chapter 116

"Well, you seem chipper this mornin'," Greene said a few days later when he and Oliver arrived at the Quidditch Pitch and were headed into the locker room.

"Aye," Oliver replied, grinning.

"Alright," Greene said. "What happened?"

"I got a letter from Hermione this morning before leaving," Oliver said.

"And? Or do I not get to know?" Greene asked.

"Let's just say that I don' think Viktor Krum will be an issue," Oliver answered.

Greene arched a brow.

"Alright, alright," Oliver relented. "In my last letter I asked for clarification on something she wrote in a post script... she answered and said yes, I was correct, that I had understood her correctly."

"And?" Greene asked curiously. "What was this clarification about, or is that a private matter?"

"She's dreamed about me," Oliver said, keeping his voice low after looking around and seeing the locker room was full.

Greene blinked, staring at Oliver dumbfounded for a moment, then laughed and clapped him on the back.

"Good for you, mate," he said, laughing again and shook his head as he moved on to get dressed for practice.

That day in practice, Oliver played better than he had in a long time, and his coach and teammates noticed, but only Greene knew the truth about why. For so long, Oliver had been worried about Hermione and Viktor that it had taken its toll on him and his mindset during practice. Today, that worry had been put at ease, and it showed.

The spring holidays arrived sooner rather than later, and Hermione frowned as she opened her package from the Weasleys as Harry and Ron sat near her at breakfast, opening theirs as well, and she couldn't help but noticed that their toffee eggs are so much larger than the one she received, recalling in the past that they'd been the same size. She couldn't help but wonder if Mrs Weasley had done it on purpose out of spite over Rita Skeeter's article.

She shook her head though, dismissing the thought as another package was dropped before her and opened a parcel sent from Oliver.

Inside, she found a box of Chocoballs, sugar quills and pixie puffs. The sheer amount of candy caused her to smile and pushed the questionable size of the toffee egg from her mind. Opening the letter that arrived in the box with the candy, she read:

16 April 1995

Happy Easter, Kitty cat. I hope this makes up for all the hate mail you received earlier due to the articles Rita Skeeter published. Don't worry, you don't have to send me anything. You made my day with your earlier answer. Hope to hear about the tournament soon. Do you know when they are announcing the final task yet?

Oliver

Pulling out a quill, ink and parchment, Hermione wrote a letter in return since the owl that had delivered Oliver's present seemed to be waiting. She paused a moment and gave it some bacon from her plate, and while it was snacking, she began to write.

17 April 1995

Dear Oliver,

You'll be happy to hear that since I acquired my post box at the Owl Post Office in Hogsmeade, I've not had a single incident with hate mail. It has been such a relief. Pansy and her gaggle of Slytherin girls still try to get a rise every once in a while, but it's been easy to ignore them. I've also not been as... active... with my questions or answers in class–Potions at least–to try and alleviate some of Professor Snape's ire.

I–Well, that is to say, just prior to receiving your present, I received a gift from Mrs Weasley–she usually sends Harry, Ron and I each a gift at Easter. Anyway, there was no note or anything, but I noticed that the toffee egg she sent me, which previously had been the same size as Harry and Ron's was quite a bit smaller than theirs this year. I'm not worried about it or anything, the gift from you more than made up for it, but it seemed kind of like a micro-aggression. It made me wonder if it was related to the article or not. I may ask Ginny if she knows anything, or maybe the twins.

No, I haven't heard anything from Harry about the final task yet. I'll let you know when I find out.

Miss you,

Hermione

PS. Let me know if any of your teammates are interested in writing to me, if they are, I'll add them to my list of acceptable mail. I'd hate for them to try writing and the letter getting sent back. I may just add them anyway if I'm going to be throwing them a bone once in a while, anyway, unless... you'd rather I didn't do that.

When she was done, the owl looked at her expectantly and she dried the letter and folded it, holding it out to the owl.

"Oliver Wood, please," she said and the owl bobbed its head and took flight, plucking the letter from her outstretched hand.

Hermione decided in the end, after packing away her gift from Oliver that talking to Ginny or the twins or even Ron about the size of her Easter toffee egg would have been pointless, and seemed rather petty or paranoid. Besides, like she'd told Oliver, the amount of candy he'd sent her more than made up for it. Still, it irked her that all of this could be over that dumb article from Rita Skeeter. Shaking her head, she tried to put it out of her mind and headed off to class.

Oliver sighed, feeling glum again.

"What's wrong?" Greene asked when he saw Oliver sitting on the bench in the locker room.

"It's been a week, nearly two, and I've not heard from her." Oliver replied.

"Who?" Greene asked. "Hermione?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "Who else?"

Greene chuckled.

"I don't know," he replied, still laughing. "Your mother?"

Oliver gave him a mock glare.

"Alright, alright," Greene said. "What's got you so worried? You said that she told you she dreamed about you, right?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "And I've not heard from her since."

"Well, she is a student," Greene reminded him. "Maybe she's been busy with homework."

"Yeah," Oliver said and laughed. "When she wasn't watching us play in house matches at Hogwarts, she was studying in the common room or in the library."

"See?" Greene said. "There's probably a good reason she's not been able to write."

"I know," Oliver replied and sighed again, still looking dejected. "But it hasn't been easy..."

"And it won't be..." Greene replied. "If you intend to wait."

"It's not just that," Oliver said. "I know I told her I just wanted confirmation that I was understanding her letter correctly, and that she didn't need to elaborate in a letter, but man..." He paused and shook his head. "It's driving me nuts... I can't help wondering what she'd dreaming about me, you know?"

"Need I remind you," Greene said and lowered his voice, moving closer to Oliver and clapping him on the shoulder. "She is fifteen..."

"I know!" Oliver snapped.

Greene nodded.

"I have to keep reminding myself of that," Oliver continued.

"Good, good," Greene said. "Just don't want you getting yourself into trouble, mate. So... that said. You probably won't know about those dreams. At least not for a while."

Oliver nodded.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," Greene said and clapped him on the back again before moving away. "Oh," he said and turned around to face Oliver again.

"Yeah?" Oliver asked.

"Just remember," Greene said pointing a finger at him and motioning to Oliver with it. "She dreams about you... don't let this funk of not hearing from her affect how you play on the Pitch. We've been watching you in practices. You've really been improving."

Oliver grinned at him.

"Thanks," he replied and waved at Greene who moved away to get changed for practice, and moved to start getting ready himself.

Oliver wasn't the only one having a hard time with things. Hermione noticed that ever since she'd received the care package from Oliver and his parents in which Oliver had enclosed his cloak and sweater that she either had to wear or stash in her trunk in the mornings so the House-Elves didn't launder them and wash away his scent, she'd noticed her dreams of him becoming more and more vivid. She was relieved every morning as she blushed profusely that she always drew her curtains and charmed them with sound proofing spells. Still, she couldn't bring herself to pack Beaky, or Oliver's cloak or sweater away permanently.