[Author's Note: I was faced with a very interesting dilemma while writing this chapter: how in the hell would Laura and Oliver act around each other after telling each other how they felt. I was stuck at this point in the story for a LONG time. And then I realized that my uncertainty might help me write THEIR uncertainty about the same thing. Yes, this chapter gets "cute"… perhaps too cute, but I've made sure to give Laura and Oliver plenty of hell over it. ;) I hope you all enjoy reading it. Sorry for the delay in posting. You're all awesome for waiting! Please review. Support can only help me write the next chapters. (Didn't think I could write an author's note without a plea for reviews, did you?)]
Chapter 11: Awkwardness and Anger
The next morning I woke up early, as usual, to get ready for the day before the bathroom got too busy. I walked down to the common room to sit in front of the fire, gather my thoughts, and wait for someone to walk down to breakfast with. When I got down there, I found someone else sleeping in my place.
"Oliver?" I asked quietly, bending down and shaking him a little.
He woke up and sat up quickly. "Oh, it's just you."
"Yeah, just me," I said. "Who were you expecting?"
Oliver motioned for me to sit down next to him. I did, keeping a little more space between us than a part of me wanted, but I felt just a little awkward around him.
"I was expecting Percy. Percy with a long, sharp knife."
I laughed. "Are you that sure he took what I said that badly?"
"Yes," he said. "He raised hell when he came upstairs last night, after you talked to him. He woke up all of the Seventh Years by yelling at me. I think the Sixth Years might have heard him, too."
"He yelled at you in the middle of the night?" I asked.
Oliver yawned. "Said I should have left you alone and that the two of you have gone through enough in the past five years and that you didn't need me making things worse."
"You've made things better."
Oliver smiled and put a hand on my knee. "That's what I said. That's also why I slept on the couch down here last night."
I laughed again, though I tried not to.
"It isn't that funny. This sofa wasn't made to sleep on," Oliver said, rubbing his neck.
"I'm sorry," I said, still smiling. "I don't see why you had to sleep downstairs, though. You two have never fought before?"
"Never in the middle of the night the day after the other Seventh Years stayed up partying. The rest of the boys said that if one of us didn't go downstairs, both of us were banned from the room for as long as we weren't getting along. I decided that one night on the couch beat spending the rest of the year down here with Percy."
I nodded. "I didn't think he would say anything to you last night. I thought it could at least wait until morning."
Oliver yawned again, taking his hand off of my knee to cover his mouth. "We said some things to each other that needed to be said, and now that those things have been said, we can go back to ignoring each other."
"He had no right to get as angry as he did," I said, getting angry myself. "He's shown very little interest in me for over a year, and then, all of a sudden, he's interested in what I'm doing again? No, he's interested in what you're doing, that's what it is." I leaned back into the sofa.
"Laura," Oliver said. "You knew that Percy was going to get mad. I knew Percy was going to get mad. I knew that you would probably get a little mad at Percy. But I also thought you might be at least a little happy."
"I am happy," I said, quickly. I smiled. "I can't even get as angry at Percy as I should be."
Oliver shook his head but smiled. "I had the same problem. That's why I was the one sleeping in the common room last night. I don't think the Seventh Years could have made Percy do anything he didn't want to do last night."
I nodded, completely sure that Oliver was right. There was a pause. "So…."
"How did the girls take the news?" Oliver asked.
"About us?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Pretty well. They were a little surprised, but not surprised enough not to guess what was going on yesterday. I think Joan's seen it coming for a while. Did you know that it was her fault that we were paired together for that project in Transfiguration months ago?"
Oliver looked over at me. "What do you mean?"
"She put McGonagall up to it. Probably told her a sob story about how I was miserable and that if I could forgive you, I could have more company. Anyway, McGonagall bought it."
"I didn't know that. I guess I'll have to thank them both for interfering in others' business," he said, taking my hand.
I blushed.
"Is something wrong?" Oliver asked, looking at me concernedly.
I shook my head. "No," I said honestly.
"You're acting strangely," he said, squeezing my hand a little.
I smiled and blushed a little more.
"I'm making you uncomfortable," Oliver said, laughing.
I laughed, too. "Yes," I admitted.
"Why?" he asked, still laughing.
"I have no idea," I said quickly. "I just… have no idea how to treat you now."
Oliver shrugged. "The same as you always have treated me. Well… maybe with a few differences," he said, grinning.
"A few differences?" I said, grinning back a little mischievously. "Such as… calling you disgustingly cute nicknames? Or should I giggle whenever you say anything? Or write your name all over my notes with little hearts around it?"
Oliver shook his head, smiling. "I wouldn't mind my name being all over your notes, but the other two things would get annoying."
I forced myself to giggle.
He laughed wholeheartedly. "What in the hell was that?"
I started laughing normally again and leaned in towards him, resting my head on his shoulder. "I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever made that noise before. I'm not the giggling type."
"No, you aren't," he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "But at least you're loosening up around me again."
"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not standoffish around you," I said.
He laughed, took his arm back and scooted away a little. He clasped his hands and put them in his lap. "You're not making me uncomfortable, Oliver," he said in what shockingly sounded very much like how I talk.
"Hey!" I said, hitting the side of his leg with my hand.
He kept laughing but stopped acting like me.
"That wasn't very nice," I said, smiling to show I was kidding.
"No, it wasn't. I'm sorry," he said, still laughing.
"That's it? You're sorry?"
"What else do you want me to say?" he joked.
"I never said I wanted you to say anything."
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh?" he asked, leaning towards me.
"You two are disgusting," Adam said.
Oliver and I turned quickly to see Adam and Mark standing behind the couch looking down at us. The two of them looked like it was killing them to not laugh, and they quickly gave up trying not to.
"How long have you been standing there?" Oliver asked, with more than a little irritation in his voice.
"Long enough for you two to never live that conversation down," Mark said, still laughing heartily.
"I'm sorry," Adam said.
"That's it? You're sorry?" Mark asked, making his voice higher to mimic me.
"What else do you want me to say?" Adam asked, hamming up his acting as much as humanly possible.
"I don't want you to SAY anything," Mark said, forgetting to raise the pitch of his voice halfway through. The two boys broke into hysterics again.
I blushed but couldn't help laugh a little. Oliver was laughing, too.
"Honestly, we know that people say some, shall we say, sappy things when they first start dating to deal with some awkwardness, but… damn," Mark said.
"Will you two go away?" Oliver asked, still laughing.
Adam raised his hands like he was surrendering, and Mark just laughed.
"Sure, mate. We just came over to warn you."
"Warn me about what?" Oliver asked.
"Warn you that Percy doesn't appear to have slept off any of his anger. If anything, it might have gotten worse. I didn't think it could get much worse, but…. Well, perhaps you should just stay clear of him for a while," Mark said.
"Maybe I should try to talk to him," I said.
"Probably not the best idea," Mark answered. "Your name possibly had worse words following it than Wood's did."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Worse than Oliver's?"
"Thanks for that," Oliver said.
I looked over at him and smiled. "Sorry."
He just smiled back.
"I can't take this," Adam said, shaking his head at us.
Mark laughed. "We just wanted you to know, Wood." He grinned. "I'm sorry."
"That's it? You're sorry?" Adam asked, picking up the script immediately.
"What else do you want me to say?"
"I don't want you to SAY anything."
The two left the room laughing.
"I will never hear the end of that," Oliver said, blushing a little.
I laughed a little under my breath. "I'm sorry. They'll move on soon enough, I'm sure."
"Only when we give them something even more embarrassing to use," Oliver said.
"I can't wait," I said, laughing and putting my hand in his.
He smiled and quickly looked over his shoulder. "I can't either, but don't tell anyone that," he said quietly.
I leaned in and kissed him. He pulled away more quickly than I'd expected.
"We probably shouldn't be like this when Percy comes downstairs," he said quickly. "Might make things worse for all of us. I don't really want to sleep down here again."
I nodded. "You're right. It's time for breakfast, anyway."
We walked downstairs hand in hand. Some people we passed in the hall smiled and then started whispering when they thought we couldn’t hear them anymore.
"How long do you think it'll be before everyone knows?" I asked.
"About an hour," he said.
"That long, you think?" I asked.
"I was guessing conservatively," he answered.
I nodded. We walked a bit farther in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't a comfortable one either. I quickly came up with another topic. "You never told me about letting the Golden Snitch go into that room."
Oliver's face lit up more than it had all morning. "No, I didn't, did I? I had just fallen asleep after all of the festivities were ended by McGonagall. A house elf woke me up at dawn to tell me I needed to go to the Quidditch stadium. Professor Dumbledore and all of the heads of the houses were waiting in the center of the field. Professor Dumbledore congratulated the team and me and handed me the Snitch that Harry had caught.
"The six of us walked to the side of the stadium. It turns out there's a faster way into that room than through the locker rooms. We walked through one of the walls in the stadium and directly into the room with the Snitches. Professor McGonagall lit her wand, but that was the only light. I could only see slight shimmers of light from the Snitches. We all stood there for a few minutes. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Finally, Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly and said, 'Let it go.' So I did."
"Could you see it fly away in the dim light?" I asked, watching him remember the experience instead of watching where I was going.
"No," Oliver said, pulling on my arm a little so I wouldn't run into a student passing by. "I could feel it fly around me once before joining the other Snitches, but it was too dark to watch it."
"Oh. That's too bad."
Oliver shook his head. "I know what it looked like."
I smiled up at him, and he pulled my arm again, so I would avoid a door that had opened.
"Be careful," he said kindly.
"Why? I haven't run into anything," I said, turning my head to watch where I was going anyway.
"You haven't hit anything because I'm watching where you're going for you," Oliver said jokingly while watching me. I pulled on his arm, and he barely avoided running headlong into Professor Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded and smiled while passing. He started whistling a tune I didn't recognize as he continued down the hall.
"Be careful," I mocked.
"I have never almost run into anything in my entire life," Oliver said, sounding genuinely surprised.
"And how does it feel to be as unobservant as the rest of us for once?" I asked.
"Unobservant? I've never been so focused on one thing, either," he said.
I turned, blushing, and smiled up at him. "Where is Oliver and what have you done with him?"
Oliver laughed. "I have no idea. Thank God Mark and Adam weren't here to hear that, though."
"We'll be sure to pass it along."
"You must be kidding," Oliver said, as we stopped walking, and Cedar and Rose ran into our backs.
"Honestly, how could you not know we were there?" Rose asked, grinning at the two of us when we decided to turn around and face them.
"They were 'never so focused on one thing', remember?" Cedar asked.
"Not you, too," I said. "Don't you all have better things to do than eavesdrop on our conversations? It's creepy, honestly."
"I take it Adam and Mark overheard one of your conversations this morning?" Cedar asked.
"Unfortunately," Oliver mumbled.
Rose smiled even more. "Well, we won't make you relive the experience. I'm sure the boys will pass along that information."
Oliver smiled back sarcastically.
"I must say I didn't really believe the two of you were together until this walk down to breakfast," Rose said, as the four of us started walking again.
"You really didn't know we were following?" Cedar asked.
"No, we didn't," I answered.
"Have you kissed her yet?" Rose asked Oliver, jokingly.
Oliver laughed and turned red. "That's really none of your business, is it?"
"Of course he has," Cedar said.
"Can we change the subject?" I asked quickly.
"He has, hasn't he?" Cedar asked, seriously.
"Go away!" I said, laughing and holding my palm up to my forehead, wincing as if the conversation was hurting me physically.
"You better have, Wood—"
"I have! Merlin…." Oliver said. I could hear the embarrassment in his voice.
I took my hand away from my face.
"Good," Cedar said with finality, and I was thrilled to be done with that conversation.
The four of us walked into the Great Hall, and Oliver and I reluctantly joined the other Seventh Years. Joan and Tara had gone down before even Adam and Mark. To our amazement and relief, our friends didn't give us much of a hard time. Mark and Adam only ran through their script of Oliver's and my conversation twice, and there were a few funny looks, but that was all. Everything else seemed relatively normal in the group. I was relieved. I could deal with the slight awkwardness around Oliver. I had been expecting Percy's wrath. It was nice to have some stability with the rest of the Seventh Years.
About halfway through breakfast, Percy walked into the Great Hall with Penelope. Our section of the table grew silent, and the half of the table facing Percy watched the two take a seat. Fortunately, Oliver and I were on the side with our backs to him. Percy didn't stop to chat… or yell.
"How's he look?" I asked quietly, unable to pretend like nothing had happened.
"Um… well…." Joan started.
"Like the two of you were nonexistent, more or less," Cedar said bluntly. "He looked completely normal… happy… until he passed our section of the table. Then, he just looked rather apathetic."
I raised my eyebrows and sighed. "Well… I wasn't expecting any differently, I guess."
"He seems to have calmed down since this morning," Adam said, cheerfully.
I shook my head. "No, if Percy's not saying anything, it means that he's more angry at me than if he were in my face yelling obscenities."
"I don't know. He seemed pretty pissed last night when he was in Wood's face yelling obscenities," Adam said.
"It's different," I said quickly.
Oliver nodded. "He hates me, is what she means. The silent treatment is reserved for the people he actually likes."
"How nice of him," Mark said.
We laughed a little and moved into new, normal conversations.
The school day was normal, yet different. It was the same old Monday routine: Arithmacy, Transfiguration, lunch, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Nothing remarkable occurred in any class, but little changes made that Monday seem different from any previous Monday that year. Oliver walked me to Arithmacy before going to his own Muggle Studies class. People in the halls would smile at the two of us (with the occasional glare coming from a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl). Professor McGonagall gave us a genuine smile when she saw Oliver sitting next to me, holding my hand.
At lunch, Mark and Adam tried to convince us Seventh Years that they, too, had seen the relationship coming all along. No one bought it. In Potions, Snape made a snide remark about Gryffindor's "newest couple" and how "Hogwarts relationships" rarely work. When the Sixth and Seventh Years who were apathetic about Oliver and I dating heard that our relationship pissed Professor Snape off enough for him to say something, these Sixth and Seventh Years became much more outwardly supportive of the whole thing. Not that Oliver and I needed other people to support the relationship, but the fact that they did helped our uneasiness that day.
Professor Lupin, in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, probably made more of a deal out of Oliver and I dating than any other professor, perhaps with the exception of Hagrid, who beamed whenever he saw us for weeks. He smiled much like Professor McGonagall had when he saw us sitting beside each other. Our lesson that day was on a few counter-curses that could be used while dueling. He had Oliver and I demonstrate the counter-curses for the class "to prepare Oliver and Laura for their future minor domestic disputes." We knew to take his teasing in good spirits. It was slightly easier for me to do so; I would have defeated Oliver in each duel had the duels been real. Oliver continued to claim for weeks that he'd let me win the duels. I always responded by telling him that it would be easier for everyone if he learned to admit when he was defeated by me because it would happen often.
That evening, after dinner, I tried to do homework for a couple of hours. It was difficult to concentrate on my studies because people kept interrupting to comment on how they were glad to see Oliver and me happy again.
"Laura?"
I looked up from my Transfiguration book, clearly showing my frustration.
"I'm sorry," Oliver said. "I didn't mean to bother you."
I shook my head and smiled. "Not at all. I was expecting another well-wisher that I didn't really want to talk to."
"I take it you don't mind talking to me, then," Oliver said, pulling out a chair but not sitting in it.
"Most of the time," I said, grinning.
"Would you like to get out of Gryffindor? Go take a walk perhaps?" Oliver asked quickly.
I checked my Muggle watch. "It's already after curfew, Oliver."
"Only by about fifteen minutes. It's not like we're getting anything accomplished. People have been interrupting our studying all evening."
"Yes, but if we get caught—"
Oliver interrupted me with his laughter. "If we get caught, then this is probably the only day we'll ever be able to get away with it. Think about it. If someone catches us, then we'll plead temporary stupidity, send some puppy love looks at each other and act cute. No one will want to ruin our good day."
"Except Snape. Or Percy," I said.
"Percy's not monitoring the halls tonight. And we'll stay away from the dungeons. Does Snape ever leave the dungeons?"
I shrugged. "I've never seen him upstairs before. But I don't usually wander the halls at night."
The truth was that I didn't mind following rules. If I absolutely had to break a rule, I would, but otherwise I stayed within the guidelines. Maybe Percy had rubbed off on me a little bit. The thought that Percy may have been influencing my thinking made me seriously consider Oliver's argument. He was probably correct. If we did get caught that night, most people would probably look the other way.
Oliver could see that I'd made up my mind and walked around the table. He took my hand and pulled me up.
"All right," I said, sighing. "Just let me put my books upstairs."
"I don't think anyone will take your homework."
I looked at him curiously. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave the common room?" I looked around. "Is Percy in here or something?"
Oliver laughed, but just barely. "No, and even if he were, it wouldn't chase me out of the room. I just… we haven't had much time alone today. Everyone's been too interested in us to give us any time to ourselves."
I smiled and blushed a little. Oliver smiled back, and I followed him silently out of the common room, leaving my books where they were.
For several minutes, we walked slowly, hand in hand, through the upper floors of Hogwarts. For the first time, I did not feel awkward around Oliver while there was silence. I knew that we still had things to talk about. But I also knew that we could talk about these things… there was no rush. And we had had enough conversations that we didn't have to share every thought with each other anymore. We already knew, in some basic form, what the other person was thinking.
"I don't think I've been in this hallway," Oliver said, after we'd been out of the common room for almost half an hour.
"I used to have to walk through here on my way to the Divination Tower."
Oliver looked down at me, smiling. "You did take Divination, didn't you? I'd forgotten that."
"Largest waste of time of my life," I said. "I have absolutely no sense of the future. Professor Trelawney said I was too wrapped up in the past to be able to see into the future. Maybe she was right. I doubt it, though. I seriously wonder if Trelawney was ever able to see anything meaningful in the future."
"I don't think many people believe she can see into the future. I suppose Dumbledore would never have hired her if she didn't have some talent, though."
"I know of one person who placed some faith in Professor Trelawney," I said, smirking slightly.
"Who?" Oliver asked.
"Rose," I said, trying not to laugh.
"Rose? Our Rose? She doesn't seem like the type to fall for that kind of thing."
"She is when she likes what she hears."
Oliver stopped walking, and since I was still holding his hand, I stopped as well and faced him.
"I have a feeling this is going to be a pretty good story. I'd like to focus more on the story than where we're going," he said, leading me over to a windowsill at the end of the small hallway were we in. The two of us put our weight against the sill. "All right. Let's hear it."
I laughed. "Well, Rose needed a letter of recommendation, and Professor Trelawney always liked Rose because Rose actually pretended like she cared what we were learning about in that class. Rose was good at making up fortunes that not only sounded believable, but were based in the lessons we had. She got an Outstanding on O.W.L.s in that class. We're not sure why she didn't take N.E.W.T. levels of the class.
"Anyway, I went upstairs with Rose and Tara so Rose could ask for a letter of recommendation. Professor Trelawney was pleased to be asked. She said she couldn't write one without looking at Rose's palm, though. Rose agreed, of course. Professor Trelawney looked at her palm and said a few things that I don't remember about the Head and Life lines. When Professor Trelawney reached the Heart Line, she gasped. Professor Trelawney said that it appeared that Rose was in a time of unrequited love at the moment, but that very soon this love would be returned."
Oliver laughed.
I nodded. "Rose wouldn't let us leave until she'd gotten Professor Trelawney to tell her that Rose and Flint would be happily married with two children and a dog. Professor Trelawney, thankfully, told Rose what she wanted to hear. I would have hated to see what Rose would have done to the poor woman if Trelawney would have said that Rose and Flint had no future together."
"I think it would have been rather amusing to watch."
I laughed. "I actually thought that Rose was losing hope in anything ever working with Flint, but now her hope is back as strong as ever."
"I've heard rumors that it may not be hopeless," Oliver said.
I looked up in him with surprise. "You mean Flint is actually coming around?"
"Well, I don't know if I'd say that. I'd say it would be closer to say that Flint is starting to give in. It's pretty obvious to the rest of the school that Rose will never give up. The two were seen walking around the grounds yesterday afternoon."
"You're kidding," I said, impressed.
"Of course… the rumors did include the part about Rose attaching herself to Flint with a charm. But he didn't break the charm for over an hour."
"He probably couldn't figure out how," I said.
Oliver laughed. "I'm afraid you might be right. But let's not give up hope if Rose hasn't."
I smiled up at him. "That was sweet."
"Then I take it back," he said. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer.
My stomach flipped, and I felt myself blushing furiously. Oliver was nice enough not to say anything about it. He leaned down to kiss me. I closed my eyes and tilted my head up towards him. Oliver must not have seen my move my head. He ended up kissing my chin.
The two of us leaned away from each other quickly. I looked up at him. Both of us were clearly bright red now.
"I missed," he said simply, taking his hands off my waist.
His tone of voice and face made me start laughing.
"Yes, you did," I said, trying to match his simplicity.
He started laughing, too. "You aren't willing to take any of the responsibility?" he teased.
I shook my head. "No, I believe I shirk responsibility quite well and don't intend on stopping now."
"Well… what are you going to do when we graduate, and you have to take some responsibility?"
He was kidding, but my mind still registered it as a valid question.
"I don't know," I said, honestly.
Oliver just smiled kindly. "I don't know either."
"I don't really like to think about what's going to happen after Hogwarts," I said.
"Surely you've thought about it a little. We're all on career paths. Have been since our fifth year, after we talked to Professor McGonagall," he said.
"Well, yes," I admitted, turning away from him and looking out the window. "I want to work for The Daily Prophet, but I don't like to think about what I'll do if I don't get a job there."
"You've applied?" Oliver asked kindly.
"Last year," I confirmed, "and I've set up an interview for a few days after graduation."
"Then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."
I looked over at him and smiled. He had also turned to look out of the window. It wasn't a great view. This window looked out at another wall of Hogwarts. Of course, the window wasn't meant to show people anything spectacular. This wasn't a place people normally stopped. It was a hallway used to get from one part of the castle to another, and the window let in light adequately enough for that.
"I'm afraid I'll worry about it until I know for sure either way."
"I never knew that's what you wanted to do," Oliver said, perhaps a little to himself.
"I never told you," I said.
"I never asked."
"I never asked you what you wanted to do with your life after graduation, either," I said.
He looked at me and laughed a little.
"You're right. I knew what you wanted to do."
"I didn't say anything. How do you know I was right?"
"I knew what you were thinking. But I still never have asked about your plans, so there's no need to feel bad about asking about mine. Have you tried out for any teams?"
"No," Oliver said. "Madame Hooch told me that there were scouts from a few teams in Britain here at the last game. Not necessarily for me, mind you. For any Sixth and Seventh Years."
"Perhaps, but they must have noticed the captain of the winning team," I said, happy for him.
He smiled. "I hope so. I'll find out soon enough. But what about you? What do you want to do for the Prophet?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea. I've just always wanted to work for that paper. It's where most British wizards get their news, and… I knew a long time ago that if I couldn't make the news, I wanted to at least spin it the way I wanted."
Oliver laughed. "So you want to write?"
"Not necessarily. Everyone who works for the paper can spin the news. Even the people who decide the layout can influence how people see the stories."
"That's true, I suppose."
"Professor McGonagall told me that my flexibility would help me, or my lack of commitment to one part of the field would hurt me. I've been hoping that The Daily Prophet will see things in any way that will help me. Ultimately, it will all depend on my N.E.W.T.s."
Oliver sighed. "My back-up plan does. If I don't make any Quidditch team, then I'll try to join the Ministry, like my dad."
"You don't seem to keen on the idea," I said carefully.
Oliver shrugged. "I don't think the back-up plan ever sounds that appealing. That's why it's Plan B, right?"
I laughed a little under my breath. "Makes sense."
"And, if I do make a team and can make a career out of Quidditch, eventually I'll have to retire from that and get a real job. Then the Ministry of Magic can become Plan A." He smiled. "But I'll admit that I'd like to keep that part of my life farther into the future than at the end of this school year."
I didn't say anything.
"It's kind of scary, isn't it?" Oliver asked after a few minutes.
"The future? Yes, it's terrifying. Let's try not to think about it for a while longer," I said, smiling to show that I wasn't too serious.
He put his arm around my waist. "We still have a couple months to stay under Hogwarts' protection."
"Yes," I agreed. I leaned toward him and smiled to myself.
Hogwarts had always offered a sense of refuge. Especially my fourth year, when I could escape from the previous summer by diving into my school work like I never had before. Then, Hogwarts and the people in it had offered me a future by educating me. Now, Hogwarts and the people there made the present feel safe and protected me from the future.
"This is a horrible view," Oliver said.
I laughed. "You picked the window, not me." I turned away from the window and toward Oliver.
"Fair point," Oliver said. He turned me around slowly, so that my back was to the window, and he took a few steps back. "That's a little better."
I laughed and shook my head.
Oliver laughed, too. "That was a horrible line."
"Yes," I said.
"I'm trying," he said, shrugging.
"Trying to what?"
He shook his head and laughed a little more. "I have no idea. I guess the truth is… I'm not entirely sure how to act around you anymore, either."
I sighed. "I think you had it right this morning. Act like you always have… with a few differences."
"Such as?" he asked, smirking, making me answer that question again.
I smirked back. "Well… for one thing, you could work on your aim a bit."
He laughed and blushed a little, but he didn't miss when he kissed me again.
After a few minutes, Oliver stood back a little and laughed. "I think I like this difference."
I laughed, too. "I'm glad," I said, jokingly patting him on the arm. I caught a glimpse of my watch. I didn't think I had seen the time correctly, so I looked more carefully. "It's really late, Oliver. I don't think even we could get out of trouble now."
He nodded. "Let's head back, then."
He took my hand, and we made our way quickly, but quietly back to Gryffindor Tower without running into anyone patrolling the hallways. The fact that we'd spent so long out after hours without getting caught made me question the security at school a little, but the thought passed quickly. That night, I just didn't care much about whether anyone who didn't belong could get into the castle without being noticed.
When we got back to the common room, it was empty. I walked over and gathered up my books. I hadn't finished my homework, but I could get what needed to be done the next morning. Oliver walked me over to the door leading to the girls' dormitories, perhaps needlessly, but I didn't mind.
"Good night, Oliver," I said quietly, before kissing him lightly on his cheek.
"Sweet dreams, Laura," he responded, opening the door and then shutting it softly behind me.
I smiled to myself and walked upstairs.
[Author's Note: Hooray for 2 a.m. I've been so nervous about this chapter that I put off writing it for about a year. I probably could have put off the end of this chapter another day, but I like writing while no one is awake.
This was a very hard chapter to write. My plans for it changed completely while I was writing it. I ended up deciding that the characters' plans for the future fit in with their conversation here better than the conversation that I originally intended to go into this chapter. That means I have to craft the next chapter around that other conversation. Which means that it might take me a little while again. The truth is that I had forgotten how long it takes to write even one rather simple conversation. I try not to think about how many hours must have gone into the part of this story I wrote last year (or sometime near last year).
Thank you all for waiting for the past few weeks for this chapter. You're all marvelous… simply marvelous! Thanks especially to electronicquillster for looking over this chapter for me and offering moral support. Go check out her story, Harry Potter and the Lightning Bond. The story follows this missing Gryffindor fifth years and contains clever clues leading up to the revelation of what the Lightning Bond is. It's got a good characterization of Professor Dumbledore, gives the Weasley twins the attention they deserve, and has an amusing original main character, Andrea. It's under my favorite stories, if you want an easy way to reach it.
Coming up in the next chapter (I think): Percy's still pretty pissed, which angers Laura quite a bit. And Oliver has been worrying for months now about something that Laura told him.]