Chapter 19 Strong Stem Tender Flower
“Ginny…
“Ginny…
“Wake up…” he nudged her arm softly.
She gently opened her heavy eyes to welcome an unexpected image of Oliver’s blurry and unshaven face and his earring hovering not far away from her. Blinking very quickly, she immediately shot up from his bed as he retreated to avoid a collision. Her hair was completely disheveled but she didn’t push it away from her face because she wanted to use it to hide her flushed cheeks. She cast a nervous eye at Oliver, who had backed himself into a ray of sunlight, studying her apprehensively. It was dawn already, and to her horror, she had spent the entire night sleeping in his bed, in his quarters.
“Erm… before I apologize and explain… about my no show for the competition yesterday… can I ask… erm… why are you here… and how did you… get in… and… what are you doing in… my bed?” he sputtered, scratching his head. It was evident he too had just gotten up and was only marginally less confused than her at this moment.
He yawned jokingly before she could respond, “I know you fancy me and stuff, but can I ask that you… stop squishing my favorite pillow like that?”
He opened his arms jeeringly, only to have his favorite pillow smacked furiously across his face.
“Fancy this! You stupid git! I came because I was worried about you!”
She then proceeded to garble out words incoherently as they bubbled on her tongue.
“Oliver, you’re so seriously stupid. I thought something dreadful happened to you when you didn’t show, and Harry took your place and somehow he knew our routine and we won with Dumbledore’s tiebreaker, and I lost a shoe and almost died, and I came to check on you when I saw my jigsaw puzzle because I couldn’t sleep, and I was worried about you but the door was slammed shut because of the wind…”
He was nodding blankly, trying to comprehend her lightning words and wondering why the pitch of her voice was steadily climbing higher and higher, reminiscent of her mother’s shrieks.
“And the wind slammed the door and it was jammed and I didn’t have my wand with me, and I didn’t know where your wand is because your room is a mess and your window is too small for me to fly out with your broom, and I try to wake you but you were asleep like a zombie”“
“All right! STOP! Whatever… the doorknob’s been faulty since the beginning of school year!” he interrupted her and rubbed his temple because she was starting to give him a headache, on top of the hangover from being drunk last night.
“Ginny… you still shouldn’t have slept so cozily in a guy’s bed like that,” he lectured brotherly. “Other boys would have taken advantage of you in the same situation. You’re lucky it was my bed you”“
“What was I supposed to do? Sleep on the beer bottle floor? The door’s stuck and you were out like a dead pig! I could light firecrackers in your eyes and you still wouldn’t wake”“
“Well, at least we weren’t in bed together,” he rolled his eyes and added sarcastically.
Ginny was so angry she crushed the parchment that was in her hand into a ball and threw it at him before remembering that it was his letter to Yuriko. His boyish sniggers were immediately silenced, replaced by heavy sadness as all of yesterday’s recklessness crashed into his head when he unfolded the crushed ball. He realized she had read his emotional letter and invaded his past. Ginny quickly hid her guilty hands behind her back when she noticed him staring angrily at them; he was furiously wondering what other pieces of his past did she take without permission.
“I want you to leave, please,” said Oliver frostily, feeling betrayed, but Ginny sat defiantly on his bed, glaring at him, seemingly daring him to kick her out.
“Ginny Weasley, please leave!” Oliver marched to the door but just like Ginny last night, he was unable to open it.
“BLOODY DOOR! WHERE THE HECK IS MY WRETCHED WAND?” he was cursing and tearing at his room madly as she sat motionlessly in his bed with her hands behind her, watching him vent out his anger at everything in his path.
He attacked his door again, panting and pulling it with all his might, “STUPID DOOR! WHY CAN’T IT… open… please…”
“Oliver…” Ginny pleaded apologetically when he cascaded down to his knees, along with his fading and cracking voice. It pained her to see him punish himself like this.
“Please… talk to me.”
He covered his scarred face helplessly with his trembling hands, “Ginny… I thought… we agreed… to stay clear of that part of our lives…”
“I’m sorry for reading the letter. It… was stuck at the doorframe… but… please… talk to me,” she begged again, hoping to get through his despair. “You’ll… feel better.”
Her hands were now fishing for something that was nestled in the sheets behind her and she closed her grip on it, “We’ll be stuck here… for the next little while anyway.”
“Not unless I find my wand!” he panted and scanned across his room, forgetting that he could summon it with a spell.
Just as he was about to propel uncontrollably again, he trampled over the pillow and fell to the floor.
“OLIVER!” Ginny shrieked, her eyes starting to tear up.
Lying helplessly on the floor, what used to be a vibrant and energetic Oliver was now a heap of shattered spirits. He really wanted to cry, but he was determined to not let Ginny see him cry. Desperately swallowing back his tears, he gradually calmed his boiling emotions as he pressed himself up. Wanting to hide his face, he turned his head down, picked up his pillow, and slowly dragged his feet to the window. As soon as he opened it, the noise from the wind chime and the metal ornaments once again ignited his quarters, drowning out the sniffing sounds he was trying to suppress. After staring despairingly at the ornaments, he graced his hand across one of them and some water splashed out.
“I think it’s only fair,” said Oliver, his voice trembling as he squeezed his pillow into his chest and buried his chin on the windy windowsill. “I owe you an explanation for my abandoning you yesterday.
“Ginny, this is… a rain chain. When it rains, it collects the water and it flows… cascades along the side… like a beautiful waterfall.
“Yuriko… says rain is good for me,” he muttered philosophically to the flower shaped funnel that was dangling outside, while at the same time, letting the northern winds dry up his tears. “She’s…always comparing me to a plant… a tree… maybe because of my name or something. When I introduced myself, she did a song about an olive wood tree.
“She likes analyzing things with nature… heavy things, like everything has a deep meaning for her…
“The waterfalls, falling leaves, every snowflake has a purpose… She once told me my eyes give her the lyrics for her songs.
“Her favorite topic is raindrops, water drops. She says love is like raindrops. There are no clean breakaways…” he graced his hand at the rain chain again, splashing more water out, “…because each drop of water has a lingering strand, a streak that follows it, as it falls to the ground. If you look closely and slowly, you’ll see it. I see it all the time.
“But… just like love, the more you look at it and analyze it, the more confusing it is.
“She says rainy days are only romantic and musical when she’s with me. Otherwise, it’s just another dull gloomy rainy day.”
Ginny couldn’t agree with that more. She would never forget the memorable birthday she shared with Harry last year at the Burrow, when the musical sounds of rain woke her up to find a pair of sparkling green stars watching over her. It was indeed romantic. In contrast, she found herself alone in her room during this year’s birthday; the rain that accompanied her lonesomeness this time was no longer romantic and musical.
“I asked her why she describes me as the stem of a rose… Now I know why. I think she wanted me to reply that she is like the rose on a stem or something. Of course I missed the boat on that one, as lyrical as I think I am.”
Ginny rolled her eyes and decided to let it pass. Oliver didn’t notice because he was still busy attending to the rain chain.
“We met in the quirkiest of ways. I was next to her in the elevator and a bunch of people that day. Suddenly there was a funny sound, and everyone turned to gape at her.
“She was very red… I… don’t know what I was thinking, but for some reason, I wanted to help her.
“So… I bravely apologized to the people, hoping they would think the offensive sound came from me and not her,” he laughed sadly, gazing at the rain chain that was dancing merrily with the drafty winds next to the wind chime.
“She was still very embarrassed but she… thanked me, for trying to help.
“I thought she was cute… and her accent… her way of calling my name… I think she does it on purpose though.”
Ginny giggled in the background, adjusting herself to sit on the precious item she had been holding on.
“The problem is she… doesn’t know anything about our wizard world,” he continued talking to the rain chain, “You know… magic and things like that… the whole time, I didn’t want to freak her out.
“But… I knew I had to tell her… when I found myself falling for her… and I knew she felt the same way about me… but I didn’t know how.
“One day I brought her to our Quidditch practices and introduced her to my teammates. I asked her to watch us play.
“Thinking back… that wasn’t a smart thing to do… It must be so overwhelming for her… a girl who likes to daydream about the depths of lingering raindrops… and to put her in a strange new world for the first time… seeing a bunch of people zooming around with their brooms chasing balls that have a mind of their own.
“It was a shock for me that she loves it… she was on her feet in awe… she was so impressed she wanted to attend all my matches… I thought she was just being nice… but she turned out to be crazier than most fans.
“I was the happiest man in the world when she asked me to take her up… and give her a ride… because it was then that I realized she would have no problem with me being a wizard… in a Quidditch team… she accepted me,” Oliver choked and clutched his stomach, apparently in pain.
“Oliver…”
“I’m okay,” he swallowed, clutching his pillow tightly.
“Before we knew it, we were getting serious… to the point that I wanted her to be my girl.
“She accepted after making me propose to her… in front of my teammates… on my knee. I should have known she’s into that sort of stuff,” he smiled despairingly.
“Her father wasn’t too excited initially… because you know… our cultural differences, but soon after, he says as long as Yuriko is happy.
“But… some things can’t be hidden forever. I forgot… I come from a different world than her. Yuriko and I both know her father would go ballistic if he finds out I’m a wizard. I was speechless when he asked me what I do for a living.
“To make a long story short, he forbade Yuriko from seeing me again… demanded her to return home immediately, as far away from me as possible.
“Thinking like a romance novel that I’m sure you read all the time, I said… we can escape, hide ourselves somewhere… anywhere… so no one will ever find us. The world is so big. I’m sure there must be a spot for us.
“It was such a foolish thing to say,” he sighed, with Ginny shaking her head in disagreement.
“I never felt so scared… I was scared of losing her, but I just said we’ll go home and pack, and we’ll meet at the train station and leave London… and go anywhere the train takes us.
“I waited for her… and waited. But… she never came… to the train station, because little did I know… she had already left London… gone back to her folks.
“I found myself unable to move on. When I play Quidditch, I keep searching for her in the stands… a part of me was holding on to a faint slip of hope that… she’s back, but another part of me was scared… of her being here.
“You must think I’m such a stupid fool, wasting myself away for a girl that just left me… but it was the lowest point in my life. I had to escape. I couldn’t compete anymore when my teammates were also walking on eggshells around me, so I made up a story about my injured back, excused myself from the team and just wanted… to run.
“Looking for a place to hide, at least temporarily, I thought of Hogwarts. It was perfect because my teammates… they will never figure to find me here. And… she doesn’t know anything about wizard schools… so I’ll never have to see her.
“But… her images continued to flood my mind when I was at the Burrow with you guys. Any silly little thing would remind me of her, like when George mentioned about Harry being stuck with a brat was like a pair of chopsticks… that made me think of all those times she tried to teach me how to use them.
“I could still feel her… hovering over me, gently holding my right hand,” he choked, biting his lip. “She was so patient and kind.
“I realized the only way I can stop grinding myself like this was by keeping busy. So… I occupied myself with the flying competition… and it was the best when Dumbledore allowed me to participate. I can tire myself to sleep instead of…
“Who would have known the papers will publicize a school event so much? My teammates, Evan and Daisy, found out where I am. Wanting to cheer me on, they visited me yesterday… and they… told me… about her.
“Seeing them and hearing about her was like having the rug pulled from under me. To find out that she looked for me… asked about me… wanted to know how I am… Everything that I was trying to forget… just came rushing back. I… was a mess… I couldn’t compete.
“I didn’t want to risk injuring you so I… just… ran… again… like… a coward.
“I’m sorry, Ginny,” he closed his eyes and squeezed out the remaining scars of anguish that had not been dried up by the winds.
Ginny pulled his wand out from underneath her and got up from his bed, “I’m sorry too. I was sitting on it all along.”
“I know. A nosy girl like you will do anything to fish a story,” he wiped his eyes, took his wand and blasted the stubborn door open. “Unfortunately, this story is just one of those loser stories… about a guy that got dumped”“
“I disagree,” she headed to the doorway, reached over to his cheeks, and wiped his tears. “You’re a man with a big loyal heart. Always remember that!”
“There’s a favor I want to ask”“
“Don’t worry, Oliver. I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone. I understand,” she slipped out of his room to the empty halls, knowing solemnly how and why she truly understood his suffering.
“Ginny, thanks for listening,” he called out to her sincerely. “And… I know you said you have enough brothers to last you ten lifetimes but if you need… one more brotherly shoulder to cry on, one that doesn't come with all the protective brotherly speeches… I’m ready to return the favor.”
She nodded appreciatively and headed back to the common room, but she wasn’t paying any attention to her gloomy steps along the way. Her mind was flooded with all kinds of thoughts, because Oliver’s story of heartbreak reminded her of her very own heartbreak so much. She believed she could sadly be the only one that best understood the pain he was going through.
As she approached the common room entrance, she could already hear Sam’s voice piercing through the portrait. It appeared she was nagging her mentor again. She stopped herself at the portrait, quickly reminding herself that she was going to put in her best efforts to get back with Harry in order to make him happy. Prepping herself to please him, she took a deep breath and rearranged her face to ensure she had the most pleasant of expressions, even though her heart was aching in anguish. Trying to forget about Oliver’s emotional letter and its resemblance to her paper plane, she flung the portrait open, prepared and ready to play the role of the actress in love with the leading actor.
The Boy Next Door by gossipweaver
Chapter Notes: “Love is like raindrops. There are no clean nonchalant breakaways, when each drop of water has its lingering strand, a unique streak that follows every one of them, just as it splashes to the ground. Oliver, if you look closely and carefully, you’ll notice it. I see it all the time. But… just like love, the more you look at it and analyze it, the more confusing it is…” ~Yuriko Nanikawa~