Chapter 6
He liked art.
He really did.
She loved art. Oliver couldn't believe she was staring at another painting of the virgin Mary. He didn't realize there would be quite so many depictions of the same thing. She seemed happy looking at it. He guessed muggle art is just religious art. She was caught up in the painting before her.
"So they really love Mary around here?" he said, "I didn't realize quite so many painting of the same subject,"
Lavender laughed, one of those inappropriate laughs for a gallery but made her face light up and Oliver could see how pretty she really was. It suddenly seemed 100% worth it that he had shown interest in about fifty paintings of Mary which lost their appeal after the first five or so. If he was lucky then he got an overly gruesome one of Jesus. He thought those were his favorites so far.
"If you ask me then I think it's interesting to see each artist's individual take on a similar subject matter and how much of their personality is shown through their work" she commented, "however I could definitely move on right now,"
"You look really pretty when you laugh,"
"You'll make the virgin mary blush with your flattery,"
"I wasn't flirting with her,"
Oliver's mind briefly slipped into what that might look like, ‘hey mary, your halo looks so good in this light' or ‘joseph don't appreciate you like I would.'. He needed some new lines or perhaps not attempted them to start with. Why was he thinking about flirting with a painting right now? This gallery is getting into his brain or something. Maybe Lavender's drunken babbling the night of the final was right. Some art does get into your mind and won't leave.
"Well, maybe it's just me blushing then," Lavender smiled, moving swiftly onto another subject. "Come on then we'll go to another floor, there must be a map somewhere."
"Perhaps I should have taken map plan from the desk,"
"Don't worry, you were just being manly, I should have known better than to assume you knew where you were going!"
He felt himself flush a little. He thought she was half joking as her tone was light and somewhat teasing. He relaxed as she grabbed his hand as she wandered through the next gallery again like he could no longer be trusted as a guide. The next gallery showed slightly more violence paintings of Jesus than heavenly looking ones of Mary. Oliver was definitely into this bossy mode of Lavender. His mind was definitely starting to stray from the art. They came out into a spacious empty corridor with an impressive looking stone staircase leading up to hopefully something slightly less religious based. A nerve certainly rose in him.
"I want to kiss you,"
Yeah, he really liked bossy Lavender.
"You can if you can catch me,"
Totally off guard Lavender wiggled out of his hand and was running up the stairs with surprising speed. She's certainly one of a kind, somehow very random but her cheeky nature had Oliver following her with equal pace. She reached the first break in the stairs already. She was waiting for him. Oliver ran up and down stairs in training all the time but suddenly felt himself feeling rather breathless. They came face to face.
"Kiss me," she whispered
Oliver didn't need telling twice as he closed the remaining space between them. Her eyes danced with amusement or perhaps anticipation as he moved closer. She tilted her head as their lips met. Just like that all thoughts seem to leave his head. Only this one moment right now mattered.
She was indescribable.
*
He didn't need to go to training at this rate because this date had turned into exercise. Lavender loved to wander. He didn't think she was aimless. Lavender walked with purpose even when she didn't know she was going.
"I think one day isn't nearly enough" she mused
"We can come back,"
"Oh, can we?"
The sun had well and truly set on their day in Rome. The night sky looked so beautiful as they sat upon the edge of the famous fountain and felt a slight buzz from the evening of cocktails and dinner they just shared together. He barely registered the hours upon hours that they seemed to have spent together. No-one has dates like this surely. He really couldn't justify how this had happened but it was so easy.
He had never let himself just go. He was always moving onto the next thing. The next game with such an eagle eyed focus that it must have felt unnatural to anyone else but him. It was what he did though. He was a planner. A stresser. A perfectionist. Now he was standing still. His feet were on the ground both physically and metaphorically; it didn't feel so scary. Admittedly they had never stopped talking and walking in that time. Perhaps being perfectly still was never going to be in his nature but taking a deep breath to enjoy company fully was something new.
She matched his energy but in a different way. She radiated a chaotic energy but it felt freeing to him. Like she was just unraveling his own organized world without even trying. From the way she spoke however he knew it was not as simple as that. The slight uncurrent he didn't think he was imagining. She had a guard up though he found himself completely undone by her after just one date. He wasn't quite sure she needed to know that yet. The signs hadn't been too subtle though.
"Oh shit," he exclaimed suddenly "that's the time?"
He said putting himself out of his hazy train of thought. He noticed the big clock above the square telling him that it had turned midnight already. She obviously didn't realize it yet but the last international apparition time had come and gone. She wouldn't be going anywhere until first light.
"Oh, it's midnight, I probably should come gone back hours ago,"
"Well you've missed the last international portal,"
"I've still got an hour, the portal will be open until 1am."
"No, that's domestically at 1am,"
"It's not!"
"It is!"
She's really arguing with him now. Oliver thinks that he's rarely wrong because he looked up the time to make sure he knew so he could get her home to Paris properly. She was stuck here for the night. He planned to stay in Rome for another couple of days because he needed to get out of London for a little while. Help him clear his head more. He always stayed at the same place since he had been an adult. A fancy muggle one. The wizarding settlement in Rome was much smaller than those in London and Paris. It was not possible to be anonymous here. He craved that more than ever right now too.
"I'm always right, let's go back to my hotel,"
"Your hotel? That's a bit presumptive," she cried, waving her arms which could only be explained by the three cocktails at dinner. "Maybe I'll just sleep on the streets!'
"Anyone ever told you that you're a tad dramatic?"
"Maybe,"
She must have heard that many times over her life.
How could she not?
"I'll be the perfect gentleman,"
"And if I don't want you to be?"
Oliver smiled to himself.
"Those cocktails were strong then?"
*
"Wake up!"
He wasn't ready for his very rude wake up call. Isolde was there. He shouldn't have been avoiding her as much as he had, which was rather a lot. He didn't dare question how she got into a muggle hotel or how she knew he was here. She had her ways. The main way is that she's an unstoppable force and it's annoying.
"Isolde! What are you even doing here?"
He knew the answer. He suddenly became aware of the blonde sleeping behind him. Lavender had fallen asleep pretty much as soon as they had made it back to the hotel. He wasn't surprised and followed suit soon afterwards. Pretty good day. Oliver had a feeling that this day wasn't going to live up to the last.
"I have better things to be doing than ambushing you on Sunday but here I am. Why aren't you answering my messages?" she asked accusingly "It wasn't part of the plan that you go completely off grid."
"I didn't plan to but I've got a lot going on right now,"
"I can see that," she commented drily
Oliver wanted to defend Lavender but honestly it wasn't any of Isolde's business. She really shouldn't get an explanation for this as she's barged in uninvited. She's most definitely seen worse than this anyway but he wasn't keen on the way her eyes flicked over Lavender's sleeping form.
"Don't,"
"The season starts in two days, you've missed all your international games. If you don't get it together soon then we'll have major problems,"
"I need more time, I can't play, I'm not there,"
"I'm trying here Oliver but it seems like you're having a midlife crisis instead of a depressive episode," she says sharply before continuing in a softer tone "this isn't you,"
She's right or perhaps she's not. How does depression feel? He felt so lost but is that a diagnosis? Helplessness. Each day felt different to the last. Yesterday, he felt happy and it was fun but today he was confronted with this and it felt like he was drowning suddenly.
"Maybe, I don't know what's me and that's the problem," he said feeling a little exposed as this conversation didn't feel like something he wanted after a first date. "If I went back to quidditch then I don't think I could play well anyway,"
That's one of the things he is afraid of too. Maybe this knock is too much for him. Perhaps he will have just lost his mojo. If he went onto the field would he be able to play well ever again?
He had always focused so much. His head was always in the game. His mentality was shot to pieces. Parts of that felt good and other parts didn't. A lot of it didn't make too much sense.
"Oliver,"
Lavender was awake.
Isolde was here.
Great.
"Morning, I'm just sorting something out. Give me a couple of minutes. Do you wanna grab a shower or something?"
"Oh, yeah" she said, obviously slightly confused by the situation but she must have sensed from his tone that it was a good way to make a getaway, she scurried off quickly to the bathroom.
"Izzy, I need you to buy me more time,"
"I can get a bit but you need to get yourself together quickly. You need to decide what you want." she said firmly "Don't avoid my owls or calls again,"
"Promise,"
"I'll let you get on with your Sunday but this is a warning,"
He stewed in his thoughts for a bit longer as he could hear the shower. He wasn't sure what he could say to her. He felt the tightness in his chest growing. He didn't like this at all.
"Are you alright?"
The shower had obviously stopped and he hadn't been paying attention as Lavender came to sit on the bed next to him. He didn't know the answer. He thought so. She reached over to touch his hand gently. He gratefully received her hand resting on his though he made no movement himself.
"Yeah,"
"I don't know if you even want my advice. I was never good at taking it myself but I think I've learnt that life is not about what sets your soul on fire but the things or people that can restart it from the ashes."
Damn, she's special.
"Thank you,"
He couldn't manage more than that right now.
*
He returned home instead of staying in Rome like planned. He didn't quite know how to feel that a million things were running around my mind. He had a brilliant time but Isolde's visit may have sparked him getting too deep with lavender too quickly. It's not really first date material. Lavender knew that he wanted to quit quidditch, it wasn't a secret from her after she overheard the previous conversation. Oliver believed that he could trust her. The other stuff is heavy though, too heavy.
The date was great.
A lot though.
A noise from the kitchen suddenly made him start.
"You give me a mini heart attack every time!"
Archie had become a bit like a cat that Oliver had suddenly unknowingly adopted. He had found her in his apartment a couple of times before deciding to give her the incantation for his flat. She seemed mainly interested in what he had in his fridge and occasional company. It turned out it suited him quite well but the surprise at her being in his house when he didn't expect still hadn't worn off yet.
"I thought I would see if you were in as we've run out of food at mine," she asked lightly, "you weren't home but I figured you wouldn't mind anyway,"
By run out, she meant that she hadn't brought anymore and Oliver seemed to be her main food source. It meant that he also needed to remember to buy food to feed two people. Archie had made herself right at home. She seemed to work but Oliver wasn't totally sure what she did. She was still pretending to be a muggle. As he still hadn't seen her carrying a wand yet but she must have it on her to get into his flat though. He had asked about Poppy a few times but got less response every time. Archie never seemed too concerned though. He stopped asking.
"We've got bacon, sausage and eggs, pumpkin juice," he rattled off heading towards Archie "I think there is some cold pizza from a couple of days ago too if you fancy touching that,"
"Cold pizza is the best type of pizza," Archie acknowledged.
Oliver had never eaten too many takeaways before. Occasionally after a long day traveling from matches but it wasn't really regular but pizza was a staple from his diet for the last couple of weeks. He couldn't help wondering briefly if he would regret those decisions if he ever wanted to go back to professional sports. Lavender had sewn the seeds of doubt. He could feel it but he wasn't ready to go where that path led right now.
"I'll have some of that," He said, taking the box from Archie's hand.
"So you dirty stop out, how was the date?"
Brilliant before Isolde stepped all over it and reminded him what a bloody mess he was. Oliver doesn't know if he is too complicated to bring someone else into his headspace. Lavender is probably out of his league in like ten different ways but he still wanted to see her again because hanging out with her is the thing that's made the most sense to him in the last couple of months. He liked her but perhaps it's just too much?
He felt like lavender got it though. The things that he had left unsaid. He wasn't as cool as the marketing to make him look or smooth talking as he could be. That's really tiring sometimes. It's a small part of him. Just the part that's been played up to the most.
"Hello, are you at least going to tell me her name?"
"It's Lavender,"
"You know that's the most ridiculous name I've ever heard, you're joking right?"
"Says the person who won't even tell me her first name,"
"What's lavender like then? Or should I stop talking because it was the most humiliating experience of your life?" she continued "you didn't get cat fished did you?"
She was like a jukebox and she'd keep on going until Oliver answered her because he hadn't known her for long but he knew she'd just keep throwing out theories until he answered her. He was pretty sure that she wouldn't stop talking even if it was the most humiliating experience either. He thought going through the quidditch world cup was enough humiliation for anyone. Despite what the public thought.
"No, she's amazing," he began, "the date went great but I don't know if I should just be concentrating on myself right now?"
It was a half question and Oliver was rather hoping that she knew the answer for him already. The days he felt normal but then something was there to remind him that he was going a little more crazy as the days went by. He still didn't have a grip on what's happening to him. He was still learning how to ride these waves of emotion.
"That's some self help book bullshit," Archie snorted with laughter like he said something genuinely funny. Maybe he had. "Merlin, why don't you just go to Thailand to find yourself then?"
"You don't hold back do you?"
"No, you know pretty much everything about me already,"
"Apart from your first name," Oliver joked
"I'm just saying that just because you don't like yourself that much right now, you don't speak for the rest of the population, She likes you"
"So, don't leave it too long before a second date," Archie advised
"I'm going to sleep for a bit, I'm shattered," he said before adding "Remember to lock up when you see yourself out,"
He opened the bedroom door. I couldn't help what Archie said playing on his mind. Maybe there is something to that. It's not that he didn't like himself necessarily. He was just a bit stuck at the moment.