Over the next few weeks, things were quiet for Oliver. For one thing, Mary had been avoiding him ever since their argument in the library. She always looked away whenever she passed him in the corridor, turning her nose in the other direction. According to Andrew, that was "true Slytherin behavior." Oliver couldn't disagree with that. Overall, he was okay with things being peaceful for once.

But one evening, Oliver and his friends were shocked when Hermione Granger came up to him while they were leaving the library. "Hi," she said to Oliver.

"Hi," he repeated, his body still, unsure of what to do now.

"Do you want to go to Slughorn's Christmas party with me?" she asked, or more like practically blurted out to him.

Oliver let the question echo in his mind over and over. Do you want to go to Slughorn's Christmas party with me?

"Answer her, mate," Andrew whispered, nudging him.

The boy shook his head, snapping back into reality, and cleared his throat, staring at Hermione. "Yeah, I'll go with you."

Hermione nodded, looking pleased. "Okay, I'll talk to you more about it once the date gets closer." With that, the girl walked past them and disappeared behind the shelves.

The sound of snickering and giggles came from Oliver's friends as they left the library and walked down the corridor. "Guys, will you relax?" Oliver asked, smiling a little.

"How can we? Your dream of going out with Hermione Granger finally came true!" Jacob exclaimed. "Although, we were all hoping that you'd be the one to ask her out and not the other way around..."

"Who cares?" Violet spoke up. "Oliver's finally going on a date!"

Eliza was next to give her friend a smile. "It's about time, too, Ollie."

Oliver felt his face get flushed as his friends continued to joke with him about him and Hermione. He didn't think he'd hear the end of it for a really long time. In fact, until the five had to part ways, that was all they could talk about. While the others had their fun at teasing their friend, Oliver began to get overwhelmed at the idea of being Hermione Granger's date to the party. At the age of sixteen, this would be his first date, and he was already beginning to get nervous.

Once it was time for the others to turn in for the night, Oliver and Violet walked back to the Ravenclaw Tower, his nerves still high. "I don't know anything about dates, Vi," he admitted to her.

Violet shook her head, letting out a soft laugh. "Don't worry. We'll help you."

He nodded, feeling a bit better, though not as much as he'd like. Nevertheless, Violet's reassurance eased his mind, knowing that he would not be alone in figuring things out.

For the rest of the night, he thought about the party, thinking of the many ways the night could go right and wrong.

*******

"I look stupid," Oliver stated, groaning and slouching in front of his friend.

"No, you don't," Violet said, touching up his hair. "You look lovely. Now, stand up straight so I can fix you up a bit."

It took a week before the party for Hermione to tell Oliver to meet her on the sixth-floor corridor the evening of the party. Now, on the twentieth of December, he and Violet were in the Ravenclaw Common Room, making sure they looked presentable for the occasion. While Violet looked nice and elegant in her blue dress with a poof at the bottom, Oliver had to settle for a black dress with a pale pink tie to match Hermione's dress. After all, he wanted to make an impression for her (also for Slughorn, but he wasn't as important as Hermione Granger was, of course).

"Hermione is going to be swept away by your charm, Oliver Campbell," Violet told him, smiling. She smoothed out his dress robe before sighing in content. "There. You look as handsome as ever."

"That doesn't sound convincing to me," he replied.

She rolled her eyes in response. "Oh, stop it. Come on, let's get going."

So the two left the tower and headed for the party. Oliver could still feel the nervousness running through his body, his hands shaking and his heart beating rapidly. He looked over at Violet's calm expression and wondered how she was managing to keep it together. Then again, he remembered that Violet had more experience with dates.

"I heard that Luna Lovegood was invited to the party," Violet spoke up after the silence became too much for her.

"Yeah? Who asked her?" Oliver questioned.

"According to Eliza, it was Harry Potter," she answered. "Overheard Harry and Hermione talking about it in the library one night."

Oliver raised his eyebrows in surprise. He remembered not seeing her leave for the party, so he figured she met up with Harry already.

As they kept walking, the two finally came into view with their Gryffindor friends. Andrew and Eliza were in casual clothes, their arms folded over their chests and leaning against the wall.

"Well, don't you two look nice," Eliza said with a smirk. "Especially you, Ollie."

He couldn't help but look down sheepishly at his feet in embarrassment. "I look ridiculous."

"I already told you that you look lovely," Violet reminded him. "Just keep your head up..." She pulled his head back up. "You will be fine."

"Yeah, just make sure to keep your eyes closed when you're snogging Hermione," Andrew teased.

Oliver hit Andrew. "Piss off, mate."

While the others laughed, Jacob approached them, his posture straight and relaxed. "What's up, guys?" he asked, then turned towards his date. "You look like a blueberry."

Instead of getting offended, Violet let a grin creep up on her face. "Thanks, Willy Wonka."

"So you did watch the film like I told you to do," he commented, forming a small smile on his face.

"Well, it's only your favorite like you've mentioned to us a million times," she pointed out, grinning. "You can thank Eliza for that. She made me watch it."

The other three merely looked at Jacob and Violet, not sure what to think of their exchange. Oliver, however, being observant at times, could see there was something there. Then, he remembered his conversation with Violet from a few weeks ago.

He let his mind wander. Are they...?

"Well, we better get going," Jacob said to the others. "See you lot later." With that, Violet took his arm and the two headed off for the night.

"Yeah, we just wanted to see you off," Eliza told Oliver. "Andy and I better get back as well. We don't want to get caught since we really have no business being out here."

"Oh, live a little, Liza," Andrew commented.

"And you get even more detention from McGonagall? Let's not risk that." The girl sighed and turned to Oliver again. "We'll see you tomorrow. Tell us how it goes, yeah?"

"If I don't, then you'll just make me tell you," Oliver pointed out.

"See, this is why we're your best mates." Andrew let out a small smirk before him and Eliza strolled down the corridor until they were no longer in sight.

"Oliver." He turned around to see Hermione standing there with the pink dress she talked about. It flowed down almost to her knees, her hair wavy with the front held back by a clip, and a beaded necklace for a nice touch.

"Hermione," was all he could get out. He then chuckled nervously, trying to get himself relaxed. "You look beautiful."

The girl grinned. "Thank you. Shall we go, then?"

Oliver nodded and held out his arm for her to take. When their arms were linked together, the boy felt more anxious than ever. He wanted this night to go smoothly without any problems. It was hard for him to believe that this was finally happening. Him and Hermione together. He liked that. Not just him, but his friends were happy about that, too.

When they arrived at the party, Slughorn's office was filled with dimmed lights and thin curtains hung up. People were socializing with one another. As Neville Longbottom came by with a tray of drinks, Oliver happily took one for him and Hermione. Taking a sip, the muscles in Oliver's body were relaxing and the nerves were easing up. Hopefully, it would remain that way for the rest of the evening.

He spotted Jacob and Violet mingling with other students, then the two glanced over and gave Oliver big smiles and thumbs up his way. The Ravenclaw responded by playfully rolling his eyes at them.

"Ah, Miss Granger!" Professor Slughorn exclaimed, a happy grin plastered on his face. "And who might you be, young man? I don't believe I've seen you in my class."

"Oliver Campbell, sir," he greeted, shaking his hand. "I'm actually not taking Potions this year."

Slughorn nodded in response. "Well, it's been an interesting term so far, so you're missing out, Mr. Campbell!"

I highly doubt that, he thought. He still flashed a fake smile his way. "Such a shame."

The man turned his head and waved in another direction. "Miss Fowler! Mr. Zabini!"

The two looked over to see the Slytherins enter inside. Oliver's eyes went straight to Mary strolling in with Blaise Zabini at her side. She was wearing a silver dress with a lace pattern at the top and it flowed at the bottom like the other girls here. Her hair was in a bun, tight and smooth. Needless to say, Oliver thought she looked beautiful. He felt a small hint of guilt thinking this way since he was here with Hermione.

"Oliver?" Hermione said, snapping his attention back to her.

He looked at Hermione. "Yes?"

"Would you like to walk this way? Perhaps get away from the crowd?"

He looked around and motioned to do just that. "Yeah, that would be nice." They quickly got to a corner with no one around. Oliver sighed. "Sorry, I'm just not one to be social at parties."

"It's alright," she assured him. "To be honest, I really didn't care about coming here to begin with. But I didn't want to be rude by not attending."

"I understand," Oliver said. "I would've done the same if I was invited." He paused and cleared his throat. "Speaking of inviting, why did you ask me to come with you tonight?"

Hermione spun side to side, her dress twirling. "I mean, you're nice, Oliver, and I have been noticing you staring at me sometimes."

"Oh, you do, huh?" Oliver began to smile a bit.

The girl grinned in response. "Well, I'm very observant."

"Yes, I can see that," he replied, chuckling.

It was after a moment of laughing when a familiar plant formed above them. They looked up and saw the mistletoe blooming. That was when Oliver had a feeling what was coming next.

Merlin's beard, he thought.

"We don't have to...you know..." Hermione said.

"No, I...I want to," he blurted out.

Taken by surprise, Hermione was the first to lean in, then Oliver followed until their lips pressed. It was slow and gentle for Oliver, while he thought his head would spin and his heart would race faster than ever. He wondered if really their lips would be in perfect sync with the perfect mold for their mouths.

When the two pulled away, Oliver realized that none of that happened, and it was obvious that Hermione knew that, too.

"Um..." she spoke up, clearing her throat. "Excuse me." Hermione rushed away, leaving Oliver in disappointment.

He shook his head, knowing he messed up. This was the last thing he wanted to happen. If anything, he was upset with himself. Finally, after being alone with Hermione Granger for more than a minute, finally planting a kiss like he wanted for a while, and what did he feel?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

At least my first kiss wasn't like this, he thought. He swore he'd never think about it again, but at the age of thirteen, the first kiss he had felt more fun than this. That was all thanks to--

No. He couldn't bring it up again.

By now, he was scanning around the room, looking for Jacob and Violet so that he could tell them he was leaving. He was mortified the more he replayed the kiss from moments ago in his head.

"Oliver?" the familiar voice of an American caused Oliver to stop his search and spin in the direction of the voice.

"Mary," was all that came out, still lingering onto his thoughts.

"Hey," she replied. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

No. "Yes," he lied. "You?"

"Yeah, it's been nice," she answered, nodding her head. "Listen, I came over here to apologize for what happened in the library. I shouldn't have fussed at you like I did."

"Well, you had every right to be upset," he pointed out. "I took it too far."

"So did I," she said. "Honestly, we both messed up."

Oliver nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I'm sorry for what I said, too." He stuck his hand out. "Truce?"

Mary looked down at it and let out a small grin, shaking his hand. "Truce."

All of a sudden, the door opening, followed by grunting, came from the entrance of Slughorn's office. Filch strolled in with Draco Malfoy by the collar.

"Get your hands off me, you filthy Squib!" the Slytherin boy shouted, struggling to get away from his grasp.

The party came to a halt as Filch became the center of attention. "Professor Slughorn, sir. I just discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party."

"Okay, okay, I was gatecrashing!" Malfoy admitted. "Happy?"

"I'll escort him out," Professor Snape stepped in, his eyes glued on Malfoy.

Malfoy shoved away from Filch, daggers on Snape. "Certainly, Professor." With that, the two left the party.

Slughorn let out a chuckle. "Alright, let's carry on, everyone!"

Mary shook her head and had an annoyed expression. She looked back at Oliver. "I better go check on him."

"Yeah, go ahead," he told her.

The girl gave him one last wave and hurried out, not taking another glance at anyone.

Oliver looked around for Hermione, wanting to see her before he left. But she was nowhere to be found. He kept scanning the room, seeing if he skipped her among the crowd of people.

Maybe she already left, he thought.

He took one last look before making the choice to leave to find her. Oliver weaved around the guests and made his way out. Once the loudness faded away, he began to look around the corridor. After a short while, he finally heard the sound of rustling around the corner, so he went towards the noise.

When he turned to the next hallway, the boy stopped in his tracks at what he found.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Wow, this was a long chapter.

Anyway, what did y'all think? What do you think Oliver found?

Shoutout to arty_writes because she knows how much I struggled with writing this chapter and listening to me rant about it.

Song above is Gossip by You Me At Six.

Comment (PLEASE comment), vote, more angsty stuff soon!

-A