Taking Action

[Oswald Brigham]

The year was nearing the close, and still Oswald hadn't summoned the courage to ask Phoebe out. It had been on his mind practically since he'd almost shot her with an arrow in his dad's antique shop - though he hadn't been able to place his feelings right away. Now, though, he was as perfectly sure of it as a thirteen-year-old boy could be: he loved Phoebe Holland. And if he didn't tell her before they went home, he'd have to live with the regret for another six weeks, which he absolutely did not intend to do. Something had to be done, and Oswald had resolved to approach Phoebe at breakfast that morning to put an end to his misery once and for all.

With a cinnamon pastry balanced on a napkin in his hand, Oswald stood up from the Gryffindor table and weaved his way across to Ravenclaw's. It didn't take long for him to spot Phoebe - he could always pick her out from the crowd. His face lighting into a smile, he hurried over and cleared his throat. "Hi! Um - we had too many of these on our table, and, um, I thought you might like one." He thrust the pastry at Phoebe and tried not to hyperventilate.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe couldn't believe her second year was nearly over, though she didn't mind. Even though it had been better than first year, it had still been fairly basic. She was also ready to leave the disaster of the potion she made with Veronica in the first semester behind her. Her mind was wandering to the holidays, as she pictured what she wanted to work on with the new free time that was around the corner. Maybe she could try to build something, though Veronica was a lot better at that than she was. That only made it more tempting to learn for herself, though, as Phoebe didn't like depending on others.

Her imagination was interrupted by the appearance of her friend Oswald, who was carrying a pastry over to the Ravenclaw table. She smiled at him, waving. "Hey Oswald, are you choosing the superior house?" She teased, assuming he was here to sit with her. But instead he offered the pastry to her, which she found a bit odd. She wanted to point out they had the same type here, but then decided to just accept it. "Oh, thank you." she said as she took the napkin from him. "You didn't put anything in this, did you?" She added with a slight smirk. "Not trying to assassinate the assassin?" She asked, referring back to their old inside joke.

 

[Oswald Brigham]

Oswald laughed. Gryffindor was obviously the superior house, but he didn't really want to say something so smug when he was trying to impress Phoebe. "Nah," he said, sitting down on the bench beside Phoebe. "If I was going to assassinate you, I wouldn't do it in front of all these witnesses." He grinned, glad Phoebe had remembered their inside joke. She always remembered that sort of thing, and after careful consideration Oswald had come to the only reasonable conclusion: she liked him, too. "So," he said, grabbing a few grapes from a bowl and munching on them as he spoke. "Are you doing anything over the holidays?"

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe shifted to the side slightly to make room for Oswald, happily surprised he was sitting with her. She took a bite of the pastry without another word, as she wasn't one to question food given to her. Not much, anyway. It was quite good, though not really all that special. The joke about witnesses made her laugh a little. She ate it as she listened to his question, wondering what he was getting at. "Well, yes." She said with a grin. "I'm going to do lots of things. Just still figuring them out." She said with a shrug. "What about you? Any cool adventures?" She remembered him telling her he had learned to track creatures from his dad, so she assumed he would be doing something awesome like that during the winter holidays.

 

[Oswald Brigham]

Oswald was a bit disappointed that Phoebe wouldn't divulge what she was going to be doing, but that didn't matter much - she hadn't told him of any concrete plans, and that had to mean she was available! "Cool, cool. My dad's going to this, like, magizoologist convention, and I'm going with him to help look after the animals. But that'll only be for a week. The rest of the holidays, I'm totally free." He paused, biting the inside of his lip. His attempts to appear cool and collected were only a few words away from being in vain. "So, um... do you want to come over? In the holidays, I mean. We've got loads of room, and my dad won't mind. You don't have to say yes, but it'd be really cool. Cause, um, you know - I like you a lot. Sort of. Uh..." Oswald scratched his neck, uncomfortably aware that several students were overhearing this conversation. "I guess I'm kind of trying to ask you out. You don't actually have to come over, if you're busy. I just wondered if maybe you'd go out with me?"

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe's eyes lit up when Osawld mentioned the magizoologist convetion, as that was exactly the type of thing she imagined him doing in his free time. For a moment, she wondered if he would ask her along, but then he talked about the rest of the holidays instead and she was fine with that too. "I'd like to come over, yes-" she started, thinking back to the shop she had seen before the first year had started, she could only imagine what his house looked like. But then he kept talking, and Phoebe's brow furrowed. Then he said he was asking her out, and her stomach plummeted. Oswald liked her. How could that be? She thought they were just very good friends, and a small part of her felt betrayed by this admission, even if she knew that was irrational. Still, this was incredibly awkward, as they were at the Ravenclaw table where at least a few people were listening to this conversation. For a moment Phoebe wished she could say yes, both to make him happy and to get out of this awkward situation easily, but that wouldn't be fair. She didn't like Oswald that way, and she hadn't liked any boy that way yet. In all honesty, she was fairly sure she wouldn't like any boy that way. An awkward silence stretched between them as Phoebe tried to get the words together. "Look, Oswald. You're a great friend, and I'd love to come over over the holidays but..." She nervously played with her hair, something that was very unlike her. "But I'm afraid that uh... isn't possible. Not because of you but because... well, I don't like boys like that." Her words were quieter now, in an attempt to avoid the attention of those around her. She had been at the pride event and wasn't exactly hiding, but it still felt weird to say it so plainly.

 

[Oswald Brigham]

For a minute, Oswald thought Phoebe was going to say yes, and in that brief, blissful second, he pictured all the fantastic adventures they would go on together as girlfriend and boyfriend, hands held as they searched for dragons and assassinated evil wizards. But then Phoebe continued, and with each word Oswald's heart plummeted several feet. He blushed fiercely, glancing down at his lap. "Oh," he said. Truth be told, he didn't really understand what she meant - he'd lived a fairly sheltered life before Hogwarts - but he understood well enough that he'd been rejected, and that Phoebe didn't like him. Had never liked him. All those inside jokes - all that fun they'd had together... it hadn't really meant anything at all. "OK. I mean, sure you can still come round. We'll still have loads of fun." Oswald was doing his best to shrug off the blow, but his stomach ached with embarrassment. "Actually, um - I think I gotta... gotta go talk to one of my professors. I forgot. See you later." The Gryffindor got up and started to walk away, head still bent to avoid the gaze of the Ravenclaw table.