Olive woke up a few hours later, still wrapped in George's arms, her head resting on his chest. At first, she was a bit confused on how she got to his bed. However, after giving herself a few moments to wake up, she remembered.
George was still sound asleep, and it seemed like it would be that way for a while. From what she could see without moving so much, his lips were slightly parted, the ends twitching upwards into a smile. His breathing was deep and even, and every so often his arms would twitch and hold her tighter.
It was a wholesome sight to wake up to.
Then, her eyes wandered over to the clock on the nightstand just behind his shoulder, wanting to make sure she got up and went back to her own room before Sirius (or anyone else for that matter) caught them.
It was nearly nine-thirty in the morning. They had to leave at ten.
Did everyone else sleep in? Or was everyone waiting on them to be ready?
However, Fred's snores from across the room told the Ravenclaw that she and George were not the only ones who overslept. Perhaps Ginny, who really liked her sleep, would still be snoozing when she snuck back into her bedroom to get dressed.
"George." Ollie whispered, gently shaking him awake, "Time to get up, Georgie."
She poked his cheeks lightly until his eyes opened, laughing at his furrowed expression.
"Did we miss the train?" He asked sleepily, swatting away Ollie's fingers so he could close his eyes and resume sleeping.
"It's nine-thirty." She sat up, covering her mouth to suppress a giggle as George tried to pull her back into bed with him, "If we're not ready to leave in half an hour, we just might."
"Five more minutes?" He puffed out his bottom lip, "Please?"
"Sorry, love, but we've got to go!" Olive shook her head at him, "Wake Fred up while you're at it."
George made a sound that was caught between a groan and a heavy sigh as he reluctantly sat up, stretching his long limbs in the process. Olive stood near the doorway for a moment, watching him sleepily get up. His hair was sticking up in every possible direction, and even though he was awake and moving around the bedroom he kept his eyes closed.
"One day I want to wake up next to you and not have to worry about getting caught." George told her, his voice low and sleepy, "Or having to wake up early."
Ollie blushed, her eyes trailing up to meet his eyes. Although she didn't say anything, the glimmer in her blue eyes was enough to tell George what she felt. She hovered in the doorway for another moment, holding his gaze as she opened the bedroom door.
"See you in a few."
She exited the twin's bedroom just as George started tossing pillows at Fred to wake him up. Closing the door behind her, she walked as briskly and quietly as possible through the hall and down the stairs. Even though she knew someone would see her sneaking from the third floor to her bedroom, she hoped it at least wouldn't be one of the adults.
Olive could take teasing from Ron or Harry... but if Missy were to see her? Or even Remus or Sirius... she'd never hear the end of it. She especially did not want to think what would happen if she were to walk straight into Mr. or Mrs. Weasley. Even as the thought left her mind as quickly as it came, it made her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
She climbed down the stairs two at at time, planning out the next twenty-five minutes in her brain so she could get ready on time. Ollie still needed to shower, get her trunk downstairs, and pack her bag for the train ride with her robes and notebook. If she was going to be ready on time, she needed to get her act together.
Luckily, as if Merlin himself had been listening to her prayers, Olive was able to make it to her bedroom without running into anyone. However... that didn't mean two girls were waiting for her on the inside ready to bombard her with questions.
Her cheeks tinging pink, Olive tried to act cool as she opened the door, sliding inside when the sound of footsteps told her someone was about to appear in the hall. She closed it behind her, doing her best to ignore the looks Ginny and Hermione as she started to make her bed. It seemed silly to do so considering she hadn't slept the whole night in it.
"Good morning, Ollie." Ginny was tying up her hair, exchanging a smirk with Hermione, who was already packed and ready, "Sleep well?"
"What?" Olive was glad her back was to them, otherwise the look that was currently on her face would give her previous whereabouts away... even though it was already quite obvious.
Why even hide it, anyways? It's not like she and George actually did anything...
"Olive," Hermione did her best to wipe her knowing smile off her face as she approached the Ravenclaw, "You know we have to leave in about twenty-five minutes... right?"
Ollie, who had seemingly just remembered again that she was of age and could use a wand to finish packing up her stuff, turned to face Hermione with a slightly exasperated expression, her eyes watching her pillows and clothes float neatly into their designated places.
"I know." She nodded, "I... forgot to set an alarm."
"You did set one." Ginny nodded to the girl's alarm clock, "But it seems like you couldn't hear it from upstairs."
"Oh." She frowned, "Right."
"Are you feeling better?" Hermione changed the subject, though still carried a smirk, "After the boggart incident yesterday?"
At the Gryffindor's mention of yesterday's incident, the small cuts on her palms from her nails began to itch. Though Olive no longer felt an impending sense of doom and helplessness, whenever the image of her boggart flashed in her mind she was filled with a momentary uneasiness.
"Yeah." Ollie nodded, grabbing her clothes for the day and a bath towel, "I'm okay... it's just startling, is all."
She headed back for the door, wanting to take a fast shower before the headed off to King's Cross. Her eyes darted back to the clock on her nightstand, which told her she still had about twenty minutes. Hopefully, with the help of a little magic, she would be ready.
"Thank you." Olive turned to Hermione as she opened the door, giving a grateful look to Ginny as well, "For asking... and for keeping this between us."
Giving a pointed look to the two Gryffindors as she pointed upstairs, Ollie didn't realize who was passing in the hall behind her.
"Keeping what between who?"
George stood in the doorway, a toothbrush sticking out from his mouth. He looked in at the girls with raised brows, his eyes darting between Ollie, Hermione, and Ginny.
Olive, who wanted to get ready and discuss everything later, started to say something, but a teasing Ginny beat her to the punch.
"Oh, nothing." She shrugged, "Though, dearest brother, I'm wondering if the cat's got your tongue recently..."
With that, the youngest Weasley sibling grabbed her stuff and headed for the door, executing what probably would have been the greatest mic-drop moment all week. She pushed past her older brother, giving him a smirk as she proceeded into the hallway.
Olive's cheeks reddened, her mouth left opened in surprise. She didn't know whether to laugh at how good that joke was, or be embarrassed, or even shoot a comeback back at her.
George nearly choked on his toothbrush, "Ginevra!"
"She's just teasing." Hermione defended, grabbing her trunk and backpack, "Though I do suppose if you really want to keep everything between us, you two better be ready to go."
The bushy-haired girl snuck past the couple, leaving Olive and George to stare at each other quizzically.
"As insinuating as that joke was," Olive admitted, "It was pretty funny."
She covered her hands with her mouth to hide try to cover the laugh that was sprouting from her lips. George just ran a hand down his face, stepping aside to Ollie could move past. He was still slightly groggy from having woken up nearly ten minutes ago, pillow lines still imprinted on his cheek.
"I rest my case, Olls." He sighed, "There will be a day where we will wake up next to each other and not have to worry about my smart-ass siblings."
Olive stepped into the hall with a smirk, "Let's hope the teasing remarks made until then are at least somewhat bearable."
She patted his cheek before heading across the hall to the bathroom, aware of his eyes following her until the very moment she closed the door.
It made her heart flutter to know that George wanted to be with her that long, that he saw them together long enough for them not to have to worry about people catching them sleeping in each other's beds together. Even though it was such a simple, minuscule idea as far as relationships went, it still sprouted a bubbly smile on Ollie.
One day...
"Your final year." Missy stood next to Olive on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, staring at the Hogwarts express with a look bearing resemblance to sweet nostalgia. She grabbed the Ravenclaw's hand and gave it a squeeze, "I can't believe my little sister's all grown up."
Olive, who was still carrying the relief of getting ready on time to leave nearly an hour ago, offered Missy a smile. She didn't know whether to be sad, excited, or even nervous. This was her last year at Hogwarts, the last time she'd be riding the Hogwarts Express... Ollie wanted to make it count.
"I'll always be your little sister, Miss." Olive sighed, "I'll just be your grown up little sister."
The train let out one of its final warning whistles, letting the students who were still on the platform know that the train would be departing soon.
"I better go." Olive turned to face Missy head-on, "I'll see you for the Holidays?"
"Definitely." Missy brought her sister in for a tight hug, "Behave yourself. I don't want that Weasley boy to become a bad influence on you."
"Missy." Olive rolled her eyes with a smile, "Do we really need to go over this again now?"
"Goodbye, sis." The eldest Lark sister waved her off, "It's your seventh year, okay? Enjoy it."
Olive grabbed her trunk and walked off, boarding the Hogwarts Express for her final year at school.
"Need a hand with that?" George and the rest of the Weasleys weren't that far behind, having said goodbye to Molly and Arthur a little ways away from the Lark sisters.
Before Ollie could give him an answer, he picked up her trunk and helped her carry it onto the train.
"You know I could have done that myself." Olive argued lightly, sending the ginger a look over her shoulder.
"I know." George shrugged, "But where's the fun in that?"
He followed her through the train cars as the Ravenclaw searched for the compartment containing her two best friends. Olive felt bad that she hadn't been able to contact Natalie and Cho all summer, and was hoping that they wouldn't be too cross with her.
After all, it was out of her control. Missy told her that having letters being constantly sent to and from 12 Grimmauld Place would draw too much suspicion. They wanted to keep the Order's existence a secret for the time being.
"Lee's got a compartment at the end usually." George offered, "You know you can come and sit with us."
"I know." Olive smiled, "But... it's become like tradition for us to sit together. I haven't been a very good friend recently... I need to make it up to them."
She felt the comforting weight of his hand on her shoulder, "You haven't been a bad friend. None of us have been able to write anyone all summer. It's been out of our control."
He did have a point. It took Harry the entirety of his first day at 12 Grimmauld Place to forgive Ron and Hermione for not being able to write to him.
Olive glanced back at George, tilting her head up to meet him in the eye. He offered her a slightly silly expression of raised brows and a crooked smile, then stopped shy of a compartment containing he and Fred's best friend. Lee waved excitedly at him, motioning for him to come in. By the way his dark eyes danced with mischief, he had something planned.
The couple stood to the side to allow other students to pass. Olive gave George's hand a squeeze before she turned, feeling her chest grow warm at his hazel gaze remained transfixed upon her. He stared at her like that a lot recently, and it made her insides flutter.
"I'll see you later." She told him, "Okay?"
George nodded, "I know... It's just going to be weird not being able to spend all my time with you now that we're at school."
Olive shrugged, "If I know you, George Weasley, you'll find a way. Besides, it's our last year. Who says we can't have a little fun?"
She turned and continued further down the train, a smirk brightening up her face with mischief. When she turned back to look at George, he was leaning against the wall, his fingers tapping his lips as if she had just kissed him, and he honestly wished she had in that moment.
Before she headed onto the next train car, Olive blew him a kiss with a playful roll of her eyes. Part of her wanted to turn around and go sit with him, Fred, and Lee Jordan. However, the other part of her was excited to see her friends again after spending the holidays without any contact. She wanted to know how their summers went, what they were up to, how they were coping after Cedric's "death" after the Third Task.
Olive often forgot that the rest of the world thought he was dead, even though she had been pretending he was all summer. However, it had been easier being around some people who knew. She told George because she hated keeping secrets from him, and because he was written in one of her memories as well. If something, Merlin forbid, were to happen to him, she was pretty sure he'd end up in the same predicament as Cedric. Missy knew because, well, Cedric was family to her as well.
She was planning on telling Harry, but after the summer he had the last thing he needed was to be burdened with a secret as big as that... especially since the papers have been calling him a liar for saying You-Know-Who has returned.
No one else could know, Dumbledore made that very clear. For Olive's safety, and for Cedric's.
However, as Olive found the compartment containing her friends, she almost wished she had told them,
Cho was holding a copy of The Daily Prophet, which contained yet another article slandering Harry, Cedric, and Dumbledore. She looked pale, her eyes appearing to be perpetually red and puffy from crying. Natalie, who had her arm around the sixth year to comfort her, sent a look to Olive as she entered the compartment that said she wasn't entirely happy with her.
"Olive." Nat's voice held a certain stiffness to it, "Nice to know you haven't forgotten about us."
Ollie sat down across from them, her previous smile dropping from her face, "I'm sorry that I haven't written... things the last few months have been crazy."
Cho set aside the newspaper, wiping her eyes from any tears that were present, "After what happened after the Third Task... we were worried, Ollie. We thought something happened."
"We wrote you dozens of times." Nat added, folding her arms across her chest, "We were even tempted to take a train to Devon and swing by your flat to make sure you were okay."
"I'm sorry." Olive bit her lip, suddenly feeling terrible that her friends had worried about her so much and she didn't even realize it, "Missy had to travel for work, and she thought after what happened that some change of scenery would cheer me up. We couldn't tell anyone where we were, or send letters, to keep the secrecy."
Although it was partially a lie, it was a close to the truth as Olive could get without jeopardizing the Order. She felt terrible for not telling them the whole truth. However, by the look Nat and Cho exchanged, they seemed to buy it, at least for now.
"I'm sorry, I tried to write. I really did." She added, "Missy wouldn't let me."
"Were you able to write George?" Nat asked. Though the question seemed genuine, there was a hint of ice in her tone that gave Olive second thoughts on how well they believed her story.
"No." She said, "I didn't write him."
There was a hefty, tense silence that followed. It was obvious Natalie was slightly bitter about not hearing from Olive all summer, whether that was under the fellow Ravenclaw's control or not.
Ollie took out her notebook, her fingers habitually fidgeting with the corners of the leather cover. She looked from Cho, then back to Nat, waiting for one of them to say something. Were they mad with her? Angry? Did they not believe her? Olive, at this point, didn't know what to do. Ever since she left Hogwarts last June she felt like she was caught between lying and telling the truth, which put her relationship with two different groups in jeopardy: the Order and her friends.
And she didn't want to disappoint either of them.
Natalie sat back, "I'm sure you were able to read at least one Daily Prophet this summer. Have you seen what they've been writing? About Cedric?"
The blonde handed Olive the article, which was one she had been able to briefly glance at in passing earlier that morning. It was an opinion piece about whether Dumbledore is using Harry's cry for attention to gain power in the Ministry. Of course, Olive knew that wasn't true.
She also knew that what they had written about Cedric wasn't true.
"I have." She said quietly, "It's terrible."
Cho looked the most upset, her glassy-eyed gaze turning towards the window. Nat just eyed the article in disgust, giving Ollie a moment to read the article all the way through.
Despite the fact that Cedric Diggory's death had been an accident caused by the pressure of the TriWizard Tournament, Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore are still insisting the heinous and obviously untrue fact that You-Know-Who has returned. All evidence points to the fact that the dark wizard was killed thirteen years ago...
"They paint him like some daft idiot." Cho bit her lip, taking the article back from Olive once she was through with it, "Like it was his own fault! Cedric was greater than that, he... he was better."
Olive felt her own anger at the article rise in her stomach. She wondered if Cedric had read any of what was being said about him. She wondered if he even got these newspapers, wherever he was hiding.
Would he be mad that they were painting him in this light? That they were painting Harry and Dumbledore at villains?
"They are trying to hide the truth." Olive told Cho, "The Minister is just scared of admitting that there is a dangerous wizard out there that he cannot control. Cedric's memory is greater than what they are saying, and as long as we keep it alive, they have nothing."
She reached across and grabbed the sixth year's hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. Cho offered Ollie a smile, something she probably hadn't done much of the last few months.
"When did you get so wise, Ollie?" Cho asked, wiping a few tears that started to fall onto her cheeks.
"Guess all that traveling did do you some good." Nat added, wrapping her arm around Cho in a half-hug.
"I... guess so." Olive said quietly.
It was obvious things had changed the last time she saw her friends. Cho was still grieving Cedric, Natalie had spent a summer worrying about one friend while trying to comfort another.
"I can't believe you guys are seventh years." Cho broke the silence, sniffling quietly as she pulled away from Nat's hug, "Who am I going to gossip with next year? Moaning Myrtle?"
The three Ravenclaws laughed, awkwardly yet wholeheartedly. It felt nice for them to joke after not being able to see each other for nearly three months.
"Moaning Myrtle knows all the gossip." Nat told them, "So honestly, you might be better off."
"You're going to miss me and you know it, Arnold." Cho nudged the blonde, "Both of you will."
Olive smiled, "Of course we will."
"Olive's just a big softie. I've got a heart of steal." Nat joked, though the look on her face told the other two girls that what she was saying was a lie, "Okay... maybe I'll miss you just a little."
Cho giggled, "I bet you ten galleons you're going to cry like a baby."
"I'll take that wager." The blonde held out her hand, "Better set aside some change, Chang, because in about nine months you're going to owe me."
"Ollie?" Cho looked to the raven-haired girl, "Care to place a bet?"
Olive raised her brows in amusement. She knew that Cho and Nat were joking to diffuse the awkward tension from earlier, or even try to brighten the depressing mood that would have made their last train ride together a bundle of sadness. However, Olive knew that they needed to have moments like these. Moments of just pure, mindless fun.
"Ten galleons." Olive shook both their hands, "I'm sorry, Nat, but you're most definitely going to cry. I know you."
Even though they had a whole year to spend together before Nat and Olive graduated, there had been something special in those train rides between the three girls. Before Olive had mentioned to George that it was tradition, but now that Olive thought about it, she realized they meant something more.
Especially because no one knew what the road ahead for them had in store, even if it was dressed in bright pink and toad-like.