Into the Stars

The next morning was spent trying to get Allie out of bed again. I decided to get ready before trying to wake her. I made as much noise as I could to wake her as I got ready... but no prevail. When she finally got up, I left her to get ready by herself. I wasn’t going to make this a routine. I was hungry, and I wouldn’t allow Allie to take any more of my time away from Oliver.
However, the boys were gone again. At practice, I presumed. I sat down grudgingly and began to eat alone. I glanced at the Great Hall doors to see if Allie was coming. I didn’t see her, but I did notice Marianne sitting at the Ravenclaw table... also eating alone. I narrowed my eyes in thought for a moment, and then made a decision. I stood up and made my way over to her. I ignored the bewildered faces of the other Ravenclaws as I set my plate next to her and sat down.

“Hello.” I said cheerfully. She looked at me in surprise but said nothing. “Do you mind if I join you? My friends deserted me.” I said with a chuckle. She gave me the smallest of smiles.

“Sure.” And that was that. I was rather afraid to ask her any questions, and she didn’t bring up a topic of conversation. So we ate in silence. Allie never came down, either.
After a few minutes, I glanced at my watch. I had about seven minutes. The moment I did this, I was startled by a hand on my shoulder and a kiss on my cheek.

“What are you doing over here?” Oliver asked as he crouched down next to me. I blushed. He had never done that before.

“I wanted to eat with Marianne this morning.” I said in an almost overly friendly voice. She looked over and smiled slightly.

“Well, do you want to sit with us for the last few minutes?” He asked.

“Sure.” I looked at Marianne hopefully. “Do you want to come?” She shook her head quickly and continued eating. “O... kay... Oliver, I’m going to stay here.” I said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

“Alright...” He said with a raised brow. “I’ll meet you in the common room at lunch.”

“Okay.” I said smiling. He stood up and turned before pausing and looking back at me.

“Did you do something different?”

“What?” I asked furrowing my brows.

“You look amazing today... er, not that you don’t always. Never mind. I’ll see you later.” He said quickly. I laughed and looked at my empty plate. It seems that the several hours of pampering myself last night was worth it.

As soon as Ancient Runes was over, I made sure I was the first one out the door, leaving Fred and Allie behind me in dust. Oliver wasn’t in the common room yet, thank goodness, so I made my way to my dorm as quickly as I could.
I threw my robe on my bed before skidding into a stop in front of the full length mirror hanging on the bathroom door. Oliver was right! I was completely satisfied with my appearance, for once. My face was pimple free, and the makeup I applied this morning stayed completely in tact. My hair hung in voluminous curls which surprised me, because they never curled the way I wanted them to. I leaped to my bedside table and hastily applied more lip gloss before heading back downstairs. Of course no one was there. They were all in the Great Hall eating lunch.
The first thing I noticed was the coffee table. It was moved to the side, almost blocking the stairs. The next thing I noticed was all of the food laid out across the rug in front of the fire. Oliver then came into view. He was walking slowly toward the sofa holding a rose. A rose? I stepped around the table, managing to trip on one of the legs and falling to my hands and knees with a quiet grunt. Oliver looked over in surprise.

“There you are. Are you alright?” He asked as he gave me his hand to pull me up.

“Yeah...” I groaned as I smoothed my shirt.

“I was beginning to think you forgot.” He said with a smirk as he handed me the rose which, hopefully, was redder than my cheeks were.

“I didn’t forget.” I assured him as I brought it to my nose. I’d always loved the smell of flowers. My eyes fluttered shut as I breathed it in. I opened them to see Oliver grinning at me.

“Do you like it?” I looked at him dumbly.

“I love it.” I said before grinning slowly. “But just so we’re clear, white roses are my very favorite.” He shuffled nervously before making his way over to the rug. I followed close behind him. My eyes were suddenly drawn to something white curled up on the sofa. It was a sleeping cat. He was white as snow and he let out soft purrs as he slept. I looked longingly at him. I had always wanted a cat, but could never afford one. Nor had I ever had the time to care for one.

“That’s Powder.” Oliver said proudly. “He’s my best friend. My mum got him for my 14th birthday.” I smiled at Powder as Oliver sat down on the rug.
I sat down facing Oliver and put the rose on the floor next to me. My eyes scanned the selection of food on the rug, which was, again, all taken from the Great Hall. There was a bowl of fruit, an even bigger bowl of mashed potatoes, and what appeared to be chicken strips. I nodded my head in approval.

“This is nice.”

“They didn’t have much to choose from today.” He said as he put a spoonful of mashed potatoes on his plate.

“No worries.” I said sweetly.

“Maybe sometime I’ll take you to an actual restaurant.” He murmured. I looked up at him hopefully. He was poking at his mashed potatoes. My heart fluttered.

“Maybe sometime I’ll let you.” I said feeling myself blush. There was a long silence. I finally grabbed a chicken strip and started cutting it into little pieces. He looked up and chuckled.

“What?”

“I’ve never seen anyone cut up their chicken like that.”

“It’s easier to eat that way.” I said defensively as I picked up a piece with my fork and stared at it. “Did you grab any ketchup?”

“Ketchup? Seriously?” He asked with an amused crooked smile.

“Yes, ketchup. Quit making fun of me!” I said defensively.

“Must have slipped my mind. Sorry.” I rolled my eyes.

“So...” He said slowly. He wasn’t touching his food.

“So what? Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Well, yes, I just... do you want to play a game?” I looked at him puzzled.

“A game?”

“Yeah. The question game.”