Oliver and Cho (as Parvati): Dinner Date
Who: Oliver & Cho (as Parvati) When: Thursday, Jan. 31 5:00 pm Where: Blackbird Cafe & Arcadia Park What: Cho goes on a date with Oliver in Parvati's place, and learns some things only a psychic could've told her otherwise. But will she or won't she go through with the snog?
Cho used to close her eyes at night and wish upon her lucky four leaf clover that one day she'd wake up with a bigger chest. Back when she was younger, of course. Well, here they were in all of their bouncy glory. Surprisingly, they didn't do any tricks. In fact they didn't do much at all, except hang there and occasionally get in the way. Who knew? Still, they were a nice change (the whole day was, really), and she was going to enjoy them. And, her date would, too. Her date. Oliver. She smiled at herself at the mere thought of his name, but did she really want him to enjoy them? Yes. No. Yes. Of course she did. Maybe. It didn't matter. The date was on. So was the cheesecake and the snog. She was going to enjoy it. He was going to enjoy it. Everything would be fine. ...Right?
After stealing one last look in the mirror, Cho headed down the stairs, where Oliver was waiting, just like Parvati's list had planned. "Hello," she said as she made her way down the staircase, "date. Where are you taking me? Wait--" Her eyes lit up and Andy's face flashed across her mind. "I forgot. I'm psychic. You're taking me..." Standing inches away from him now, she closed her eyes. Touching her temple, she pretended to think really, really hard. "Somewhere with cheesecake? And a dark booth in a corner?"
Oliver laughed, holding out his arm for her. "New party trick?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that the Blackbird Cafe has both cheesecake and dark corner booths, so we may be in luck."
"Yeah?" Cho said, grinning as she took a hold of his arm. "I definitely plan on getting lucky."
"I told you I didn't need the on-demand snog anymore," Oliver said glancing down at her just before he Apparated them out in front of the cafe. Although, to tell the truth, the idea didn't sound so bad at the moment. Cho had seemed awfully strange today, and Parvati...well, there was something different about her tonight. Something he liked.
On-demand snog? "Well, you see, the snog goes with the cheesecake. You can't have one without the other. It even says so in Parvati Patil's Guide to Dating Really Cute Blokes."
Oliver grinned, highly amused. "Really?" he said, holding the door open for her. "I'd like to read that."
"Most people would," Cho laughed. It was fun to be someone that wasn't herself. "But it's out of print, really hard to find. It probably had too many pictures for you, anyway. Emily wouldn't approve."
His forehead furrowed in confusion as he led her back toward the thankfully empty corner booth, but then he shook his head. She must know Emily better than he'd thought. "Probably not," he said, sliding into the booth. "Though I don't mind pictures. Is mine in it?"
"Probably," Cho responded, sliding into the booth as well. "In chapter F for freckles."
"I wouldn't have pegged you as a girl who appreciated freckles."
"Lesson number one: you can't peg me," she said, blushing now. "So, dessert first?"
He grinned at her. "Does that mean snogging's second?"
Right now. Snogging was right now. "Of course, you can't expect me to snog on an empty stomach, can you?"
"Then we'd better save dessert for the end," he said. This was practical, anyway. He wasn't really certain that he wanted to snog Parvati, not when he was hoping that Cho would make the right decision, but it was hard not to fall into the pattern of flirting. Harder than usual. Did that mean he fancied Parvati more than he thought? And what did that mean about how he felt for Cho?
"Oh, you're one of those blokes," Cho said, trying her hardest to channel Parvati's confidence. "All traditional-like. Are you going to buy me a promise ring soon?"
"A promise ring?" He laughed. "Wasn't planning on it."
"Oh yeah? But it's all the rage. I'll be left out."
"Considering this dinner was supposed to be a trade for the snog, I think we have a long way to go before that, if we were to get there," he said. "So who's getting promise rings?
"Loads of girls in the 14th century," Cho answered, hiding her face behind her menu. "No one I know."
"I think you'll be fine," Oliver said, finally opening his menu. He'd get chicken to compensate for whatever it was that Parvati wanted.
Peeking over the top of her menu, Cho looked at Oliver, laughter in her eyes. "So, what's good here? These sandwiches sound amazing. I haven't had bread in like a week. Absolute torture."
"Everything's good here," Oliver said, "but the paninis are the best. As long as you're up for bread and cheese."
"Today, I'm up for anything," she said with a wink.
He lifted his eyebrows briefly as he looked back down at the menu. "Apparently so."
"Today has been the most relaxing day I've had in a long time," Cho said, her menu now folded in front of her. "I needed today. It's like... I'm not even myself. It's great. How about you? How was practise?" She leaned towards him, her voice in an excited whisper. "No one got injured, did they?"
"You seem different, that's for sure," Oliver said, closing his own menu. "Well, Ben got a Bludger to his nose, so all's right with the world. Otherwise it was a decent practise. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, though."
"Of course he did," she said, laughing a little. "I hope he's not feeling that today. What's tomorrow?"
Oliver stared at her for a brief moment, his eyes narrowed slightly, but then he blinked and continued. "Well, we have to make a decision on Sarah Elliot--you know, our Chaser whose broom went crazy on her. Her recovery is probably going to take months. She's lucky, though--with spinal cord injuries like that, she'd be dead if she were a Muggle. Of course, how she would've been riding a bucking broom like that if she were a Muggle, I have no idea."
Cho frowned. "I didn't realize that decision was tomorrow," she said, placing her hand on top of his. "I'm sorry. Will the team accept someone new?"
"I didn't realize you knew we were making a decision," Oliver said, looking very confused. "The team...well, we'll half to, since I'm not thrilled about how any of our reserve Chasers are fitting in."
"I spend a lot of time at St. Mungo's," Cho covered. "My best friend has been there since the war. I hear things. You wouldn't believe how much Healers gossip." She shrugged a little. "What about Katie Bell? Didn't she play for...for the...Arrows?"
"The Bats, but I can't just give it to her. She'd have to tryout, and she seems to have developed an allergy to that lately." He tilted his head down, his tone serious. "So what happened to your best friend?"
"Fenrir Greyback attacked her at the final battle," Cho said, the light gone from her eyes. "Like Sarah, she's lucky to be alive, but she's doing well... now."
"I'm sorry," Oliver said, frowning. "I mean...I'm glad she's doing better now, but I'm sorry he..." He sighed, blowing out a long breath. "I spent a lot of time there, too, after they got my mum out of Azkaban."
"You did? What happened with your mum?" Cho asked, giving his hand a squeeze.
"She's a Muggle-born," Oliver said, looking down at the menu in front of him on the table. "And...she...well, she went in the first day of the Registration. We told her not to, but she didn't want to draw attention down on the rest of the family by going into hiding, and..." He shrugged. "She had a lot of happy memories to lose. Her health isn't so good anymore. Nothing specifically wrong with her, she's just weak. I visit her a lot at home now."
"Oh Oliver, I'm so sorry. I wish I had known," Cho said, her voice full of genuine concern. "Does she have anyone to take care of her at home?"
He nodded. "My dad, of course. She's getting better. Slowly."
"I'm glad she has your dad then," she said, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. "But who takes care of you?"
Cho. "Ben and George, mostly. Another friend or two. I--"
"Hello," a cheerful voice broke in, and Oliver looked up into the smiling face of their waitress. "Are you ready to order?"
"Sure, as long as you are," Oliver said, looking at Parvati.
Cho smiled up at the waitress. "I'd like to try the Classico panini, please," she said. "With water to drink."
Oliver raised his eyebrows when she ordered water, but didn't comment on it. "You know, I think I'll switch and have a Classico panini, too," he said, handing the waitress his menu.
"Anything to drink?"
"Just water for me, too."
"You know," Cho said once the waitress was out of ear shot, "I bet Lavender would really like it if you stopped by. Maybe you could bring her an autographed quidditch card or something? She seemed positively excited about our date tonight."
"Yeah? I could probably be persuaded to do that. Want to show me the way on my lunch hour?"
"I'd love--" Wait. No, that wouldn't work. "--maybe we can sneak in tonight? Holly, the new welcome witch, might be bribed into letting us in after visiting hours. You can give her my snog, if it'll help cheer up Lav."
"So now it comes out. You're willing to give up your snog," Oliver said, starting to get back on more familiar territory. "Yeah, we could do that, as long as you think she'd appreciate it."
"I'd do anything for my friends," Cho said, her smile wide. "Even if means giving you up."
"That's very Gryffindor of you," he said, grinning.
"I am a Gryffindor after all," she said. "So, we'll really do it? She'll love it. She's got your posters in her bedroom at home."
He laughed. "I'm going to snog a girl with posters of me on her walls? She doesn't have any up at the hospital, does she? That might be a little weird. My ego's not that big."
"No," Cho giggled. "I meant Holly! Snog her to get us back to see Lav. Sorry, I..." Leaning in to whisper, she added, "I don't want to share."
Oliver's eyebrows raised. "You don't?"
"With Holly, sure. That doesn't mean anything. But you never--never--snog a girl and her best in the same week."
"So now you're planning on snogging me again," he said. "Are you ever going to make up your mind?"
"You'll find out someday," Cho said, pleased with Oliver's response. "Probably at the same time I do."
He laughed. "Probably. So, are you going to come to our next match?"
"Are you planning on snogging me on the pitch in front of everyone?"
"You'd have to make up your mind before I could answer that," Oliver said, although on the inside, he was kicking himself. Why couldn't he stop flirting? He didn't want to lead Parvati on. He loved Cho. He did. And normally his dates with Parvati were...well, he liked her--a lot--and he'd be interested in seeing where things would go if things didn't work out with Cho, but normally they just didn't click like this.
"If you make up your mind about a girl," she said, a faint blush on her cheeks, "kiss her there, like that. But, no, I'm not going, sorry! I always get told I talk too much."
He shook his head. "And there's your tragic flaw."
"Now, now, if I was perfect, I'd be out of your league," she said, tapping him on the nose with her finger.
"I'm not asking for perfect," he said, raising his eyebrows, his lips quirking with amusement. "But I don't think it's too much to hope for a true appreciation of my life's work out of a girl."
"If I was your girl, I'd never miss a match."
"And yet you haven't made up your mind."
Parvati held up her hands. Both were void of any type of jewelry. "Promise. Ring."
"Ha, sorry," he said, and then his eyes focused on her hands. "Since when do you keep your nails that short?"
"Oh, um," Cho said, biting down on her lower lip. "Since today. Sad, right? I broke a nail when I was cleaning my closet of purses, and then I had to make them all match."
Closet of purses. That sobered Oliver up fast. Maybe she was wearing some new perfume, something from the twins'--from George's shop, that is. "Oh, I see. I've just never seen you without long nails before. I figured there had to be a way to fix them."
"Well, there is," she said, "but haven't you ever wanted a change? Besides, I hate the way nails sound when they rub up against dry skin. It's disgusting."
"Huh," Oliver said. He couldn't really see Parvati letting herself ever have dry skin, or ever touching anyone who did. "Interesting change. Going to cut your hair, too?"
"Do you think I should? I thought you liked long hair?" she asked, touching her head almost protectively.
"I do," he said. "I was just curious, since that definitely would be a change."
Cho's smile returned. "I've got a question for you, but you don't have to answer."
He raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Chests," she said, hoping Parvati's colouring would mask any blush. "Big or little?"
"Size isn't as important as perkiness," Oliver said.
"Uh huh," Cho said, narrowing her eyes a little. Were her freckles showing again? "I'll be sure to perk them up then."
Oliver rolled his eyes. "Are you looking for me to tell you that you have a nice rack? Because you do. We can poll the rest of the blokes in the restaurant, too. I'm sure they'll all agree."
"No," she snapped, and then her smile returned. "I just think they make me look fat, that's all."
"Your breasts?" he said, genuinely shocked. "That'd be quite a trick, considering you've got a fantastic body."
"I'm just saying...I think I should diet. Oh, nevermind, let's talk about something else. Quidditch?"
Oliver ignored the bait. "You don't need to diet."
Cho stared at a spot on the wall behind him. "I love it when it rains."
Oliver blinked, not sure what to say to that. Fortunately, the food came at that moment, and Oliver focused on the food, lifting half of his sandwich in both hands.
"So this is a panini," she said, wondering how to eat it most gracefully.
"Yeah," he said between mouthfuls. "Brilliant, isn't it?"
"Yeah," she said, laughing. Merlin, he was cute. "Brilliant."
"You should order another. Before your cheesecake."
"And do what with it exactly?"
He rolled his eyes. "Eat it."
"Will you help?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"Can I eat it off your stomach?"
His eyebrows flew up. "In the middle of the restaurant?" He laughed. "Trying to get on page 6?"
She grinned. "Maybe. It's a waste of a good corner booth, otherwise. They don't make these things for upstanding citizens. Would Ernie Macmillan be sitting back here? I think not!"
"Who knows," Oliver said, watching her carefully. "Hardly anyone's been acting like themselves today. He might be off snogging your sister in the middle of Cayotic Alley."
"Or streaking," she said with a smile. "He could be streaking down Cayotic Alley."
"It's possible. Tracey Davis was downright mellow at my interview with her today."
Cho leaned in to whisper. "Can you keep a secret?"
Oliver leaned in, his eyebrow quirking with interest. "Of course."
"It's the tea. Don't drink it. Whole town is poisoned."
"And you had the tea?"
"No, just water," she said. "Seriously, Oliver, I don't know what you're talking about. Who else was weird today?"
Oliver frowned. "Tracey, like I said, and Cho."
"Cho?" Cho said, sobering a little. Parvati, she reminded herself. You are Parvati. What would Parvati Patil Do? "Isn't she always a little unhinged?"
Oliver's expression hardened. "Unhinged?"
It was hard not to smile then. "Um.." she said, biting down on her lip, hard. "You know. So, what'd she do?"
"She was fine this morning when she got into work, quiet but fine," he said, his face softening slightly. "Then when I talked to her in the gym, she was just...off. Completely different. She didn't even move right. She says she's still sick, but she seemed all right yesterday."
"Time of the month? Full moon?"
He shook his head. "She seemed like she didn't even know how to be Cho anymore."
Cho was at a loss. She didn't know how she would respond to that, let alone Parvati. "She's... maybe you should visit her tonight? Around 11?"
"Eleven. Any particular reason why?"
"Came to me. Psychic senses, you know."
"Right...well, I do know a secret way into her room. But if I use it, then she'll know I know. Then it won't be so secret."
A look of surprise flashed across Cho's face, but it was fleeting. "If you already know it, then it's not a secret anymore."
He laughed. "It's a secret that I know about it. I figure George must've done it when he was living at my place to go bother Bells."
"Afraid she might use it to sneak into your room at night?"
He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, the point is that you are acting differently tonight, too."
"A good different."
"A...somewhat confusing different."
Cho raised an eyebrow. "What's so confusing?"
"You want the truth?"
Cho stiffened and folded her arms across her chest. "Yes, I do. I'm a big girl."
"I wanted to snog you tonight so that Megan Jones would stop thinking George and I are a couple," he said, sitting back and mirroring her arm position. "But I've decided that I'm sort of over it, now that everyone's seen our picture in the paper. Funny how it's less annoying when the misconception is in the eyes of the masses."
"Why would Megan Jones think you and George are a couple?" she asked, eyes narrowed.
"You saw that quiz in her journal, yeah? I filled it out, forgot to change the 'he's to 'she's, and hexed it private to her and George. Then she made a big leap of logic, and George ran with it. She wouldn't believe me when I tried to tell her differently, so I wanted to snog a girl in front of her so she'd have a name to connect to the quiz."
"Well, if you didn't fill it out for George," she said, uncrossing her arms and reaching for her water, "why did you hex it to him? And who did you fill it out for? Me?"
He shook his head and lowered his eyes. "I can't say who I filled it out for. Otherwise, I would've just named her to Megan. George is the only one who knows."
"Ben doesn't even know?"
Oliver shook his head. "Ben likes to talk to girls."
But not about his feelings, Cho thought, smiling a little. "What does this have to do with me?"
"I figured you'd had enough of me after I went missing on New Year's Eve, but I took the chance you'd actually snog me instead of hex me and you obviously said," Oliver explained. "A business-like snog. I figured you were Gryffindor enough to handle that. But tonight...I don't know, for awhile there, we really clicked. Which I don't quite get, considering how much I'm hung up on this other girl."
"Hung up?" she said, almost whispering. She closed her eyes then, only briefly, but long enough to remind herself that he hadn't ruled out Carina Meliflua. "Have you told her yet?"
"I can't," he said, blowing out a long breath. "If she wasn't spoken for, I would've by now. But I'm not that kind of bloke."
"And the guy she's with is a stand up bloke," she finished. Carina Meliflua was ruled out. "You'd never want to hurt him."
"Maybe you are a little psychic," he said, the corner of his mouth quirking upward.
Cho smiled, a little sadly. "You can't go to her tonight."
"I know," he said. "I can't go to her at all. I can just be there if she comes to me."
"But she can't."
Oliver nodded, a sad look in his eyes.
"It's not that she doesn't want to," she said, eyes wide to keep from crying. "She'd probably rip your clothes off you, if she could, you know, like the quiz said. Right here even." she glanced away then to keep from babbling. "She has to go to him first."
He leaned forward. "What do you mean?"
"She's already postponing the wedding."
Oliver's eyes narrowed slightly. As far as he knew, Cho and Parvati weren't close. "How do you know that?"
"I just do."
"That doesn't help me much."
Cho glanced down at her half eaten panini. "I know, Romeo," she said. "The problem is..."
He raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"She would do anything for her friends, too."
"If she'd just take a risk or two, she might find that a lot of people would do just about anything for her as well."
"Maybe she will," she said, looking up to meet his eyes. "Can you give her some time?"
"Hey, all I've got is time," he said with a shrug. "Time and hope, until she actually walks down the aisle."
"Are you going to stop snogging other girls?"
"Sorry," he said, slumping back in his seat. "I haven't since...well, I stopped awhile back. That's why I was confused tonight. You should take that as a compliment."
"I do," she said as she smiled slightly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Would you mind going and sitting in the park with me tonight? We don't have to talk. I don't know what I would say."
"Yeah, that would be great," he said, smiling a little too, even if it was hard to imagine Parvati speechless. It was a relief to have some of that off of his chest to a second person. Somehow, it felt a little more real now. He glanced at the remainder of her sandwich. "Eat up. I won't make you order a second one."
"Okay," she said, lifting the panini. "Just promise me you'll visit Lav some other time, ok?"
"Sure," Oliver said, reaching for the second half of his. "I'll even bring her some cheesecake."
Cho smiled. "You can take her mine."
"No, you wanted cheesecake! You should have cheesecake."
"I'll get it someday."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "We're not leaving here until we've had our cheesecake."
"Okay, just a little."
He grinned, smugly, and set about finishing his panini. When the waitress returned, he smiled up at her then, victory still in his expression. "We'll have a slice of cheesecake with the raspberry sauce." And then he tilted his chin and really turned on the charm. "The largest slice you have, yeah? And extra sauce."
"Of course," the waitress said, a blush rising to her cheeks, and she went off to get the order.
"I hope you're hungry," she said.
"Starved."
"You'd better be."
"Come on. You wanted cheesecake," he said.
"You forgot that the cheesecake was supposed to come with a snog."
He grinned. "It's just not the same without a snog from me, is it?"
"It's not," she insisted, smiling despite attempts not to, "but I'll settle for a hug."
He laughed. "You can sit on my lap while you eat it if you want."
"What about Page Six?"
"I'll tell them they were out of booster seats and you couldn't reach the table," he said. "Either that or we could make her package it up to go and eat it in the park."
"I'd like that," she said. "The park, I mean."
"All right. That's what we'll do." When the waitress came back, Oliver asked her with another charming smile to wrap up the cheesecake with a couple of plastic forks, and she was happy to do it in trade for an autograph. Once that was accomplished and he settle the bill, he led Parvati outside and toward the quickest way into the park. "You warm enough?"
She smiled up at him. "What will you do if I say no?"
"Tell you to cast a warming charm on yourself, of course."
"I'm good," she said quietly.
He laughed. "Honestly, I'd give you my coat."
"I might be a little cold."
He shrugged out of his brown leather jacket and put it around her shoulders. "There. Better?"
"A little," she said, a sheepish grin on her face as she pulled it tighter around her. "Let's eat our cheesecake."
He took her to the children's play area in the park and sat down on a swing, opening the cheesecake container and handing her a fork.
"Do I still get to sit on your lap?"
"You can try," he said, spreading his hands apart.
"I have excellent balance," she said with a wink before turning to sit on his lap. "Now, if I happen to drop raspberry sauce on you, remember you're the one who ordered it."
"I'll keep it in mind. So how is it?"
"Delicious," she said, tilting her head to look at him. "Eat some."
He reached in over her shoulder and picked up a huge forkful, then closed his lips around it. "Mmm...delicious!"
"I told you," she said, leaning back into him.
"You should have the rest," he said, smirking a little behind her head.
"I thought you were starving?"
"Before the sandwich!"
"You tricked me!" she said, pointing her fork at his face.
"I'm teasing you," Oliver said, moving his head back away from the fork. "I'll help with a few more bites. You can always take the rest home."
"All right," she said. "Open up."
He opened his mouth wide.
Feeding him the largest bite she could fit on the fork, she said, "Thanks for dinner tonight, by the way."
"You're welcome," he mumbled with his mouth full, and then swallowed. "Thanks for not freaking out on me when I didn't snog you."
"It's better this way," she said quietly. "You fancy another girl. I'd rather not kiss you if we're pretending I'm someone I'm not."
"I do like you, you know," Oliver said, scooping up another bite. "If she does get married, want to be my date for the wedding?"
"Yeah. If I attend her wedding, I can't think of anyone I'd rather be with."
He grinned. "Brill. As mates, you know. Probably better to wait on another real date until I'm not on the rebound."
"We'll see," she said, setting the fork in the container and relaxing against him.
He slipped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She smelled oddly familiar, but he couldn't place why, since she didn't smell like the perfume he remembered her wearing to the ball. Then, pushing back with his toes, he set them swaying above the ground. His feet dragged against the gravel, making a soft, comforting sound. He couldn't think of anything more to say, but he didn't particularly mind.
With a flick of her wrist, Cho tossed the cheesecake container to the ground, hoping the seal was tight enough to keep bugs and dirt out, adjusted Parvati's purse on her shoulder and wrapped her fingers around the swing's chains. They were cold, a sharp contrast to the warmth she felt from Oliver. Her Oliver. Tonight proved, more than anything, that he loved her, no matter what form she was in--fat, flat, little, big, perky or sad. "Hey Oliver," she said after a few minutes of silence (both comfortable and un-Parvati like).
"Yeah?" he said, giving them another push.
"Give me something to remember this night?" she asked. "I need something more than a bunch of fat from cheesecake deposited on my hips."
He thought about it for a moment, and then reached down and picked up a pebble. He held it out to her. "Will this do?"
Cho let go of the chains, their indentation still visible on her hands, and reached for the pebble. "Yeah," she said, her voice quiet as she closed her fingers around it. "It's perfect."
Oliver laughed. "You're definitely not Parvati tonight."
Her eyes closed, Cho rest her head against his chest and said, "No, I'm not."