Past Forgotten

PAST FORGOTTEN

ONE

[enchantment passing through]

but why should i tell you this

a stranger i've just met

a woman who i hardly know at all

and should forget

a journey we can only dream of

enchantment passing through

and how is it i say these things

so easily to you

[elaborate lives -- aida]

He had watched her walk into the cafe, pen tucked behind her ear, notebook and thick paperback under her arm. She'd purchased a mocha frapuccino and a scone and sat alone in the corner opposite him, poring over her novel, pausing occasionally to scribble a few lines in her notebook, her lips forming silent words as she wrote.

There was something oddly familiar about that girl, Oliver Wood thought as he sipped his butterbeer and drank in the dull buzz of conversations around him, his eyes never leaving Her.

Her hair was dark, and she dressed in varying shades of brown. She seemed to give off an aura of intellect and all-knowing, as she pursed her lips in concentration.

That concentration broke suddenly, as she glanced up. At this Oliver started, looking away quickly. After a moment the girl shrugged and returned to her book.

//What the hell do you think you're doing, watching a girl like that,// he scolded himself sharply. //You're a bloody pervert, a voyeur, and you have no right to be staring at someone you don't even know. It's rude. After all, how would you feel if someone you'd never met simply . . . //

"Excuse me?" a soft voice interrupted his inner soliloquy, and Oliver raised his eyes to meet those of the girl he had been watching just seconds before.

She smiled. "Listen, I don't usually accost strangers, but you look familiar I thought I saw you watching me and you looked dreadfully nervous and since you had no one else to speak to I thought I'd come over and say hello."

"Erm." Oliver blinked. "Hello." He extended his hand to her. "I'm Oliver Wood."

"Oliver Wood?" It was her turn to appear suprised. "//The// Oliver Wood, of Puddlemere United Reserve, formerly captain of the Hogwarts Gryffindor team?"

He nodded. "The very same."

"Wow." Her eyes grew wide. "I'm . . . Well, er, I guess we do know each other, then, though I don't suppose you'd remember me. I'm Hermione Granger."

His hand dropped suddenly, as though it had suddenly grown to heavy for him to hold up anymore, and he stood. "Granger?" He blinked several times, as if to adjust his vision. "Little Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's friend?"

She grinned.

"How is Harry these days? Are you two still at Hogwarts?"

Hermione shook her head, indicating the negative. "Graduated two years ago. I've not heard from Harry much recently, what with all the publicity from defeating You-Know-Who, but I've read in the papers that he's to be married sometime next year."

"Married?" Oliver's eyes grew wide at this last statement. "To whom?"

"Cho Chang -- don't know if you remember her or not, but she was the Ravenclaw Seeker the year you graduated. They've been together since sixth year." She smiled again. "I'm so glad for them, too. They're so sickeningly perfect for one another that it just might work, you know?"

Oliver nodded a few times, speechless.

"Well," he said, after recovering his voice, "I've got to get going now but I'd love to continue this conversation later. Are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

"Ehh. Don't think so."

Oliver grinned. "Well, then. Will you let me take you out to dinner, Miss Granger?"

Hermione was silent for a moment, opening and closing her mouth several times while attempting to decide whether or not Oliver Wood had just asked her on a date.

"No, no, not like that," he laughed, laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Just a simple, between-friends get together to talk about old times. No pressure."

She thought for a moment more before nodding the affirmative.

"All right then," Oliver said, pulling on his wool jacket and draping a scarf around his neck. "Tomorrow. It's a date -- I mean, friendly assimilation of old colleagues," he revised, noting the sharp look Hermione shot him at the mention of the word "date."

An awkward silence followed, which was broken as Oliver offered his arm in a chivalrous gesture.

"Shall we?"

Hermione smirked.