When Fire Meets Gasoline | Wizarding World

chapter thirty-eight | the risky journey

Over the next few weeks, the friendship between Oliver and Mary began to blossom. There was always a spark inside one of them that ignited a heartfelt and cheerful conversation, filled with jokes when they hung around the campsite or adventure when they had to go out and look for food. Needless to say, the two gave each other relief and put each other at ease, which was something they needed during these dark times.

One breezy afternoon, as Eliza watched Jacob fiddle with the radio, Oliver and Mary were sitting under the same tree from when she found him with his books and parchment. It had become their favorite spot, the place they made for them to relax and talk about nonsense, little things that counted as distractions from everything else, even if it was for a short moment.

"Okay, who was your first kiss?" Mary asked out of nowhere, raising her eyebrows.

Oliver chuckled nervously. "Where did that question come from?"

"From being curious," she replied, grinning. "So, who was it?"

"Oh, no," he responded, shaking his head. "Me and her swore that we'd never mention it again, and I told myself I'd never think about it again, too."

"But I'm sure you're thinking of it right now," she pointed out.

"Fair point," he said, huffing a sigh in defeat. "Okay, if I tell you, swear to me that you won't say anything to anyone."

"I promise," she assured him.

Oliver felt the embarrassment come over him as he motioned towards the tent. "It was Eliza."

With wide eyes, Mary quickly turned her head to glance at the girl before facing Oliver once again. "What?"

"Yes," he confirmed, nodding his head. "We were thirteen."

"Did you have a crush on her at that age?" she questioned, getting excited.

"I did," he replied. "I think she had one on me as well. We just never did anything about it since the feelings didn't last very long."

Mary couldn't help but smile at the memory. "How adorable."

"Okay, so who was your first kiss, then?" he retorted playfully.

The smile slowly dropped as she looked down at the ground and began to pick at the leaves, tearing them apart with her hands. "Blaise was my first kiss, actually."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

She nodded in response, almost as if she was ashamed of it. "Really. I mean, I was never interested in dating when I attended Ilvermorny. Hell, I didn't have many friends there, so dating was out of the question." She let out an awkward chuckle, still keeping her head down.

"So Zabini was your first ever boyfriend," he stated.

"Yeah, he was." Mary paused, finally lifting her head up. "Was Hermione Granger your first ever girlfriend?"

Oliver snorted at her assumption. "Hermione and I never dated."

She shot him a confused look. "But you two at Slughorn's Christmas party--"

"--was nothing," he finished for her. "She only asked me to be her date for the party, and because I fancied her at the time, I agreed to go with her." He wasn't sure how to feel about admitting this to Mary, but because it pertained to the conversation of dating, not to mention she had her own confession to make about her love life, it seemed only fair to explain what happened between him and Hermione. "We even kissed that night."

"Under the mistletoe, I'm assuming?" she inquired.

"Yes, as a Christmas tradition," he replied. "Honestly, I wanted to feel something with that kiss, especially since I had a crush on her for quite some time. Unfortunately, all that anticipation was for nothing."