Can I Hold You, Can I Hold You Close (Oscar)

[Deleted]

It was here, finally. The morning of the first task and Anna was ... well, she was better than yesterday, so that was something. She wasn't falling apart, which was also a good something. However, she was slightly nervous that whatever happened yesterday would happen again. She didn't even know how to define that experience. All that fear, taking over her so completely. She was just glad that Oscar had found her and helped her through the whole thing.

Anna sat at the Gryffindor table, pushing food around on her plate and taking occasional bites just so her friends wouldn't bug her about it. Her eyes swept across the room as she searched for Oscar, who didn't seem to be here yet. Anna was a little bit worried that he would be nervous around her after yesterday, but really hoped he wouldn't be. She wanted things to go back to normal with him. She was already nervous about today and didn't want to add Oscar to the list of things she was nervous for. As she sat there, Anna focused on the positives. All the support she had from family and friends, her great mentor. She'd do fine. Hopefully.

@oscar

[Deleted]

The Beauxbatons carriage had been abuzz that morning, and Oscar had been waiting to get out of the carriage since practically the moment he had woken up. The line for the shower was obscenely long - everyone seemed to want to shower so they could look nice if they were photographed in the stands - and by the time it was Oscar's turn, the water was cold. At least that kept his shower brief, he thought as he pulled on his clothes. They had all been required to wear something nice, since it wasn't every day that they got to watch their classmate compete in the Triwizard Tournament, but that wasn't the reason Ozzy wanted to look nice. He was going to spend the time after the first task with Anna, no matter how it turned out, and he wanted to look nice for her. Today was going to be the day, Ozzy decided. If she lost, then he could cheer her up by saying that he loved her. And if she won, he could make her even happier by saying that he loved her. He just needed to get it off his chest, and in the scheme of things, maybe it would seem inconsequential, if she rejected him. It made sense in Ozzy's head, at least. He was going to wait until after the challenge, though, because he didn't want to worry her. Ozzy made his way into the Great Hall, and spotted Anna almost immediately. He made a beeline for her, smiling broadly. "Today is the day!" He enthused, electing to ignore the events of the previous night so that he could pep her up instead.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna turned and forced a smile when she saw Oscar grinning at her. "It sure is," she answered, sure he would see straight through her fake enthusiasm. Still, she didn't want everyone to know how nervous she was about today. It felt like there was a pit in the depths of her stomach and she was nervous to eat anything else. Still, she took a small bite. "Come eat," she said, gesturing to the seat next to her. Really, the sight of him helped her calm down somewhat. Her mind flitted back to last night, the feeling of being held in his arms. She was so lucky he'd found her. Anna was going to have to thank him for that sometime, but she didn't want to bring it up right now. Too many people were nearby and she didn't want anyone to ever find out about her meltdown. She would go to the grave with that secret. 

After a few minutes she put down her utensils and looked over at Oscar with a smile. "So ... how did you sleep last night?" She asked, saying the first thing that came to mind. really, she only wanted to hear his voice. She had a feeling that his voice would calm her like nothing else could, but she didn't want to think about why right now. She was about to do the first task. Now was not the time to think about her feelings. 

@oscar

[Deleted]

Apparently commenting about the Tournament had been the wrong way to go, because when Anna turned to look at Oscar, she was faking a smile. She was faking well, but Oscar had already known she would be nervous, and he knew there was no way she was actually that excited about the beginning of the Tournament. “Okay.” He agreed when she invited him to eat, wedging himself between her and another Gryffindor student. “What even is that?” Oscar asked, gesturing to her plate. It looked to be some sort of oatmeal, not that Anna was actually eating any of it. Oscar could see why – it looked disgusting. “Here, have an apple.” Ozzy said, grabbing one from one of the center platters and handing it to Anna. There was no argument in his voice – just a statement that she would be eating an apple this morning, whether she liked it or not.

“I slept well enough.” Oscar said, forking a few sausages onto his plate and then using his free hand to grab Anna’s under the table. “It is not important, though. Did you sleep well?” He squeezed her hand encouragingly. Hopefully she had been calm enough to go back to sleep after her meltdown in the Room of Requirement. “Apple.” Ozzy reminded her, just in case Anna was going to use the conversation as an excuse to ignore her food. She needed food to keep her strength up.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Oscar asked about her food and Anna turned to look at it curiously. Honestly, she hadn't been paying attention when she dished it up for herself, just put enough of it on her plate that she could push it around and make it look like she'd been eating it when she really wasn't. She shrugged, turning back to Oscar with a small smile, "I honestly have no idea," she told him. Then he was holding out an apple and Anna took it, even though she knew what it meant. He was going to make her eat something. Which was probably a good thing,but still ... she didn't want to. She took a bite out of it still, trying to make him happy.

He grabbed Anna's hand. The one that was under the table, sitting in her lap and Anna smiled at him. He was probably really worried for her after what he saw last night. She would be worried for him if things were the other way around. "I got some sleep," she told him honestly. It hadn't been her best night of sleep, but it hadn't been terrible either. At least she rested some, which was more than she originally expected. She squeezed his hand back, looking into his eyes, "Thanks again," she told him quietly. She didn't want others to be asking her why she was thanking the boy from Beauxbatons the morning of the first task. Then she'd have to figure out something to tell them that wasn't the truth, because there was no way she would be telling anyone about that. He pointed out the apple again and she took a few more bites, more to satisfy him than because she was hungry.

@oscar

[Deleted]

Oscar huffed out a small laugh when Anna said that she had no idea what the food was. She had all but admitted she wasn’t eating it, then – if she had been eating a food without knowing what it was, Oscar would have been a little alarmed. Anna took his offered apple, and took a bite of it. Oscar beamed at her. An apple was hardly enough to count as a full breakfast, but Oscar had an idea now. If he kept handing her food, it wasn’t like she could refuse him. One thing Oscar had learned about Anna was that she was bad at saying no to him. That was a good thing for Oscar, since he was bad at saying no to her, and the power dynamic of their relationship would have been skewed if the situation was anything else.

“I am happy to hear that.” Oscar said, squeezing her hand again. If she had slept, and his plan to get more food into her succeeded, then she would be in good shape – physically, at least – for the First Task, and that was important. “Again, I say, you do not have to thank me.” Honestly, Ozzy would prefer that Anna not thank him, but he didn’t think that request would go over well, so he was content in just rejecting her thanks. Oscar turned to his own plate, remembering that he also needed to eat, and took a bite of sausage. It was just the standard fare, but he made a noise of delight anyways. “This sausage his excellent.” He told Anna when he had chewed and swallowed. “You ought to try some. Here.” Oscar stabbed another sausage link with his fork, and then held it up to Anna’s lips. “Eat.” He commanded her.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna gave a soft, self-depreciating laugh, "Were you nervous that I wouldn't sleep at all?" She didn't mean to actually say that out loud and hoped that Oscar wouldn't take offense. She didn't mean it that way, but she was nervous and not really thinking clearly at the moment, so words just seemed to escape her mouth. She gave a small sigh when Oscar said she didn't need to thank him. "I know," she remembered what he said last night about both of them helping one another and knew it was true. She just, she didn't want to feel like a burden to him, so thanking him felt like a way of relieving that burden. Not that it made much sense. She wasn't making sense. She took another bite of the apple when Oscar turned his attention to his own food. She watched, surprised when he told her that it was delicious. Then he demanded that she try some, holding it up for her and Anna ate it instantly. Her face turned a little red and she hoped no one was watching them, not that she expected anyone to be. It's just ... her feelings for Oscar were so strong and after everything last night, really she just wanted to be alone with him. "So how much are you going to make me eat before we can leave?" She asked him, a mischievous grin covering her face. Sure, food was good, but she didn't want to be here any more. 

@oscar

[Deleted]

Oscar looked guiltily at Anna when she asked if he was nervous she wouldn’t sleep at all. “Maybe?” He said, averting his eyes from hers so he wouldn’t see whatever betrayal flashed through her eyes at his honesty. Oscar looked at Anna again when she took the sausage off of his fork, though, smiling slightly at her. Oscar was about to pick up another sausage to give her when Anna asked how much more he was going to make her eat, and he froze. Rats – his master plan had been discovered. “Well, there are some omelettes…” Oscar began, choosing his words carefully. “And if you ate one of those, then you’d have dairy and a lot more protein, and I would feel better about letting you go to the First Task.” Oscar decided that now that Anna knew of his scheme, there was no use in pretending he wasn’t worried about her. “And then we can go?” Hopefully she wouldn’t resist. Oscar still needed to finish his breakfast, too, so he put the sausage he had stabbed on the tines of fork in his mouth. “Should I eat an apple, too?” He asked Anna thoughtfully. Maybe if he acted like both of them needed to think about what they were eating, she would feel better? Ozzy didn’t know.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna smiled wryly, not really surprised when he all but said he was nervous for her. "I guess you have reason for that," she admitted with a sigh, even though she didn’t want to. If he’d been the one freaking out the day before, she definitely would have been worried for him too. She just still felt embarrassed about last night. 

He looked so surprised when she guessed his master plan that Anna couldn’t help but laugh. "Alright, I’ll eat an omelette then," she said, reaching forward to dish herself one before he would. "But once I finish, we can go?" She couldn’t imagine him saying no to that, but she asked the question all the same. She started eating the omelette, not really slowly but she wasn’t wolfing it down either. She knew that Oscar definitely would not appreciate it if she did that.

@oscar

[Deleted]

Oscar nodded when Anna admitted that he had a reason for being worried. She probably wanted to forget the entire incident, kiss included. He was really good at wrecking special moments, Oscar thought with a small sigh. Anna laughed, though, and Oscar’s spirits instantly rebounded. He reached to get her an omelette, but Anna was already getting one for herself, and Oscar felt bad for assuming that she couldn’t serve her own breakfast. Just because he had seen her at her weakest didn’t mean that she was always like that. “Yes, we can go.” He confirmed. “I have speech for you.” Oscar told her. It actually wasn’t much of a speech, more of a pep talk, really, but he wanted to tell her a few things to remember before she entered the first task, whatever it was. Anna needed a pep talk after last night, and Oscar was good at giving them – he hoped.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna was surprised when Oscar said he had a speech for her. A speech? What kind of a speech? She wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to ask about it while they were here in the Great Hall. So now she wanted to eat even faster, though she was still trying to pace herself. "All right," she told him after a moment before she turned her attention back to her omelette. She ate quickly, then turned to face Oscar. "I'm ready when you are," she told him with a bright smile. She didn't want to rush him, but ... what the heck? Why was she lying to herself? She did want to rush him. She wanted to get out of the Great Hall the second she saw him enter, but that didn't happen. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much longer though.

@oscar

[Deleted]

Oscar finished his breakfast before Anna did, and so was left in the vortex of watching someone else eat. He didn’t want to distract Anna from her food, so he ran over his speech in his mind. The more he thought about it, the stupider he felt, but he had promised a speech, and a speech he would give. “Let us go then.” Oscar said, grabbing Anna’s hand when he got up. The hall was slowly getting more crowded, and he didn’t want anyone else hearing what he had to say. “Outside?” He asked her quietly, already moving in that direction. “Before I start…” Oscar said, clearing his throat. “I just wanted to tell you that if it is ever weird…you should tell me to stop.” Their entire relationship was in some strange space between friendship and love, and Oscar didn’t want to press that awkwardness even further in trying to give a pep talk.

@annelise

[Deleted]

Anna stood up, following Oscar instantly. She gave a small smile when he grabbed her hand. Even though she was sure he didn't feel anything for her (at least, nothing more than friendship), her heart raced when he so much as touched her. She loved how he didn't mind taking her hand in front of other people. At least they were that close.

She nodded, "Outside sounds great," she told him with a smile, even though he was already pulling her out the door. Then, he gave her a sort of cryptic warning about her needing to stop him if things got weird. Honestly, she couldn't see that happening, but she nodded slowly anyways. "I will," she told him, feeling like he needed that confirmation, though she probably wouldn't say anything even if it did get awkward. She didn't want to make him feel self-conscious about anything he wanted to tell her.

@oscar

[Deleted]

This was it. Oscar was actually going to have to give his speech. It was a good thing he was getting used to English, otherwise it probably would have been even more of a stumbling, slurring mess than he was already sure it was going to be. “Anna…” He began quietly, shaking his head a little. “You amaze me. Every day.” This was good. He hadn’t stuttered or blushed yet. “And you are one of the most capable and talented people I have ever met.” Still good. Still peppy, without being too lovey dovey and scaring her. “And I am constantly awed by everything that you do and everything that you are. I know that you are going to try your best on this Task no matter what, but I thought that you should know that, no matter how well or poorly you do, you will always, always be extraordinary to me.” Maybe that was erring a little too close to the side of uncomfortably sappy, but Oscar was almost done. “I have faith that you will do well, though.” He lifted the hand he was holding up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles softly. “Because you are you, and there is nothing better than that.”

@annelise

[Deleted]

Oscar's words were ... perfect. Honestly, they were just what she needed to hear and Anna was amazed at his ability to know exactly what she needed to hear. She tried to fight it, but her eyes filled with tears. Anna started blinking rapidly to get the tears to leave. She didn't want Oscar to think she was unstable, not that he didn't already know that, but she didn't want him to think he'd said something wrong. Out of all the things she was worried about, Oscar's opinion of her hadn't really been in questions, but that was because she didn't think about it. He kissed the back of her hand and what she really wanted to do was just kiss him, but she wasn't going to make that mistake again. She didn't want to make things awkward between them. She pulled her hand out of his and threw her arms around his neck. "You have no idea how much I needed to hear that," she whispered in his ear. She pulled away from him after a few seconds, not wanting to make things weird. She gave a soft smile, "How do you know me so well after only a few months?" 

@oscar