Chapter 111

Oliver jumped when a locker door slammed and looked up to see Zach Greene looking like he was fresh out of the shower with towel around his waist and one slung around his neck. The man had surprised him because he thought everyone had left for the day.

"You still here?" Greene asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Oliver returned.

"I was in talking to the coach, what's your excuse?"

Oliver held up the letters in his hand and motioned to the waiting owls that were looking rather annoyed.

"When did they get here?" Greene asked.

"They were here waiting when we got done with practice," Oliver answered.

"Okay... well, that was a while ago," Greene said, noticing Oliver's countenance. "What's eatin' ya?"

Oliver held out the letters.

"Naw, you don't have to share," Greene said. "We had a deal, your letters are your business."

"Yeah, well, as much as I appreciate that," Oliver said. "Maybe you can make sense of it, because I sure can't."

Greene sighed and nodded, holding out his hand and took the letters. "Only if you're sure," he said, looking uncertainly to Oliver.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Oliver said and sat back, finally directing his attention to the owls that were waiting, reaching in his bag and getting them some treats as Greene began to read.

22 February 1995

Dear Oliver,

First, I want to apologise for this taking so long. The truth is that I wasn't really sure how to reply. In fact, this is my fourth attempt. I am glad that the letter worked and your mail will stay private from now on, and I'm glad your teammates took you out to get your mind off things over Christmas. It must be hard when you're away from family for the holidays. I know my parents missed seeing me, but they understood that there was an event that I was invited to. Still, I missed them.

I'm sorry that the letter was so embarrassing for you, I did try to warn you that it would be… but to be honest, it wasn't just embarrassing for you. What I wrote… what I asked for… I — I really was asking. If you were to send me something like a t-shirt or maybe a teddy bear, I think I would be able to sleep easier, with all of this going on. I really have been worried about things lately, and I slept better than I have in a long time when you stayed with me.

Really, the only part of the letter that I embellished was about us talking about keeping our relationship secret… I'm sorry. I — I guess you might think of me as some silly school girl with a crush… I know we talked about it last year and well, it's true, my feelings have been changing. I'm still not certain what I feel for you, but… well, it's — it's not a bad feeling… but it's okay if you don't want to send me anything.

In other news, the second task is in two days. Not sure if you'll get this before then or not, I'm going to send it with a school owl because Viktor's bird needs a rest. I'm not really sure what it is yet, or I'd tell you. Harry hasn't solved the mystery of his egg yet — though I hope he's doing something about that now. He said earlier that Cedric told him to go take a bath and mull things over in the hot water, and slipped him a key to the Prefects' bathroom. I'll write again when it's over to let you know what happened, and I'll be sure you write to your parents as well.

Anyway, because of all the stress and having trouble sleeping, I–I think it would be better if I hold off on the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare. I hope that you're not disappointed in me for not following through on it, but well, it just makes sense to put it off with how tense and hectic everything is this year with the tournament.

Hermione

Oliver swallowed as he watched Greene read Hermione's letter, but the man didn't say anything as he continued on to the next.

24 February 1995

Dear Oliver,

I just got a letter ready to send to your parents about the outcome of the second task. Harry was awarded second place after he tried to rescue all of us, and would have come in first if he'd just done what he needed to do.

The task was to rescue us from the bottom of the lake! One treasure for each champion. Ron was who Harry was supposed to rescue, while I was Viktor's. Cho Chang was Cedric Diggory's and then Fleur Delacour was supposed to rescue her sister.

Cedric was the first to arrive at the surface with Cho, and we were second to the surface according to Seamus. Fleur had dropped out, unable to get past the Grindylows. That left Harry who shot out of the water just after the clock chimed the end of the task. He had sent Ron and Fleur's sister up ahead of him. Everyone is fine.

I miss hearing from you, but it's probably too early since my last letter yet, so I will wait and see. Hope everything's okay.

Hermione

"Well?" Oliver asked when Greene had finished reading the letters.

"Well, what?" Greene asked.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Oliver asked in exasperation.

"Look, Oliver," Greene said as he handed the letters back. "I'm not sure that you're asking the right person."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"What I mean is, I may not be the best to advise you on this," Greene said. "But I think you've got a really sweet, caring girl here, and you need to ask yourself how you feel about her and what you intend to do about it."

"Well," Oliver murmured. "When I first met her, she was like the little sister I never had."

"Which explains why you're so protective of her," Greene said. "And now?"

Oliver sighed.

"And now I don't know," he said, folding the letters and putting them in his pocket. "What difference could it make now anyway, I can't do anything about it. She's fifteen and still in school." Oliver sighed again and shook his head.

"What?" Greene asked.

"Maybe she was wrong," Oliver said and shook his head again.

"Who?" Greene asked in confusion as he pulled on his shirt.

"Just someone I met," Oliver replied.

"What did they say?" Greene asked. "Do you really trust them to give you advice?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "They seemed sincere enough anyway. Like they really wanted to help me to not make a mess of things."

"What do you mean?" Greene asked, finishing getting dressed and sitting on the bench.

"Well, they were really nice, and seemed to know what they were talking about," Oliver said.

"Okay, well, what did they say?" Greene asked looking at him curiously.

"That if Hermione was so important to me, I should just wait," Oliver said and shrugged.

"Maybe they're right," Greene said.

"Three more years?" Oliver asked.

"Well, let me ask you this," Greene said. "How important is she to you?"

"The truth?" Oliver asked.

Greene nodded.

"The truth is I'm pissed off that Professor McGonagall chose her to be part of the task for Viktor, if I was still there–"

"If you were still there, you'd what?" Greene asked. "Have submitted your name so that she could worry about you, too?"

Oliver sighed and shook his head, running his hand through his hair.

"I don't know," he said in frustration.

"Ah, I see," Greene said after watching him a moment.

"What?" Oliver asked.

"You're jealous," Greene said and chuckled. "You got yourself in a mess with having Viktor Krum look after her while you weren't there, and now you're jealous because she was chosen to be the thing he had to rescue in the second task, am I right?"

Oliver sighed and nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I guess so..."

"The question is," Greene said. "What are you going to do about it?"

"That's just it," Oliver said and sighed. "I don't know."

"Well," Greene said and slapped him on the arm, giving it a gentle shake. "It seems the first thing you gotta do is figure out what to send her."

"And the second?" Oliver asked.

"The second is something that's a bit harder," Greene said.

"What's that?" Oliver asked.

"The second is that you have to decide if you want to be her friend, or if you want a relationship with her," Greene said. "Are you willing to wait for her?"

Oliver sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Oliver said. "I guess you're right. I mean, we talked about things in her third year, but really, I don't think she heard or understood what I was talking about then... but then again, there was a lot of fear and anxiety swirling around, what with the break in at school by Sirius Black. I never really did hear more about it than that though, but everyone was high strung, so she might not have understood what I was saying then."

"And what were you saying?" Greene asked.

Oliver sighed. "All we really talked about was that neither of us really knew how we felt about each other, but that our feelings seemed to be changing, and that we decided to be friends, and stay in contact even after I left school."

"Uh huh," Greene said and sat back, his expression filled with doubt that he was getting the full story. "Alright," he said and waved it away. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, I suppose you'd better focus on what it is you're going to send her."

"Any ideas?" Oliver asked.

"Well, I guess that depends on you..." Greene answered. "How personal do you want to get right now?"

Oliver swallowed. "She's fifteen," he stated.

Greene rolled his eyes. "Not that personal, obviously, but something that's more significant than a t-shirt..."

"Well, I–" Oliver began and swallowed, not sure if he was about to get teased by his teammate or not. "I supposed I could write my mom about Beaky..."

"Who's Beaky?" Greene asked.

"It was a stuffed toy I had, a hippogriff, when I was in school until my third year," Oliver answered.

"Was it ever washed since?" Greene asked.

"No, I don't think so," Oliver said.

"Well, then," Greene said. "I'd say that it still carries your scent, it was something significant to you, and might be just what she needs. I'd say its perfect. Maybe make it a care package."

"Thanks," Oliver said.

Greene nodded and clapped him on the shoulder once more, giving it a gentle shake as he got to his feet. Grabbing his bag from where he'd set it on the bench, he slung it over his shoulder.

"You're welcome," he said stepping over the bench and releasing Oliver's shoulder. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that?" Oliver asked.

"Don't forget to shower," Greene said and then waved, heading out of the locker room with a grin as Oliver shook his head and laughed.