Not Trying to Rock the Boat (Oscar)

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Oscar was surprised that Dominique had any parts of school that weren’t her strong suit. Anna had explained to him that Ravenclaws were the most intelligent of all of the houses, so hearing one of them say that they weren’t good at something? Strange, and contrary to Oscar’s belief that all intelligent people were snobby and stuck up. At least now he and Dom had some common ground other than Anna, no matter how small it was. When Dominique asked if he was dating Anna, Oscar nodded. “We began our relationship after the First Task.” He explained. “I…knew I liked her long before then.” It had crept up on him, how much he cared for Anna, and it was really only when they had danced in the Room of Requirement that he had realized what his feelings had really meant. “So far, it has been a mixed bag.” Oscar admitted. The times he was alone with Anna were pleasant, but there had been the day he had found out Caden had died, and the day of the First Task, when he had been afraid for Anna’s life…those were not good days. “I am sure that Anna would approve of someone else taking me on an adventure.” Oscar said sagely. He sometimes worried his girlfriend got bored of having to drag him everywhere with her. Someone else doing it would be a welcome break.

@dominique

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Dom smiled. She was glad that Anna was with someone who so obviously cared about her and Dom was too. She and Anna weren't particularly close, but they got along well enough and Dom wanted her to be happy. Dom's smile widened when he started explaining that he knew he liked Anna long before they started dating. "Want to tell me about it? I'd love to hear how you both met if you don't mind." In the least, it would give her something positive to think about, a good distraction.  "Why a mixed bag?" she asked curiously, cocking her head to the right. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. Then she grinned, "I'm sure Anna wouldn't mind, and if she does she could join us!" Dom answered enthusiastically. She always got excited when people agreed to do things with her. Granted, Oscar probably only agreed because he didn't know how crazy she could be ... but that was alright with Dom.

@oscar

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Telling people how he met Anna was not normally on Oscar’s list of things to do, since it wasn’t exactly a pleasant story, but he’d rather tell it to Dominique now than to have her hear it from Anna. “I ran into her when I was looking for directions. I was not very nice to her.” He explained. “And then I ran into her again, for real. Things kind of… happened from there.” It was a lot more complicated than that, but Oscar didn’t know if he could explain the intricacies of his emotions, even in French, especially since it was only in hindsight that he had discovered many of his feelings. “Some bad things have happened.” Oscar said in an attempt to explain. “Which is also part of the reason my feelings of Beauxbatons are not entirely happy.” He said, hoping that Dominique wouldn’t push him much further when it came to talking about why his time at Hogwarts hadn’t been entirely happy. “I do not think she will, either. Do you have any idea in particular?” If Oscar knew what was going to happen, he could prepare himself for it.

@dominique

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Dom listened with interest as Oscar described what happened with Anna briefly. She smiled when he started. "Well I'm sure that if you weren't very nice, neither was she," Dom answered confidently. She knew that Dom had the Weasley fire in her. She didn't let others mistreat her very often and did quite a good job at standing up fr herself. Then she smiled and nodded. "I'm glad things are working out for the two of you. Anna deserves to be happy, and I'm sure you do too." Then he mentioned bad things happening and Dom's countenance fell a little. Her mind started flying back to the last year with all the attacks and kidnappings and ... Ethan. No! She was having a nice conversation with her cousin's boyfriend and was not going to ruin it now. "I am sorry to hear that. I can understand bad things making life at school hard," she commented, her tone more solemn than he could have anticipated. He probably had no idea what she was talking about, but hopefully he would hear the sincerity and understanding in her voice. "I hope things are getting better for you," she added before moving on with the conversation. She didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. Hmmm ... something adventurous they could do. "Well, my brother set up an obstacle course we could visit. Or we could do something in the forest. I'll have to think on it a little bit to find something really good we can do." And then she'd ask him if he was interested in accompanying her. Of course, Dom had no interest in forcing him to participate in an adventure he wasn't interested in. That would take away from the fun of it.

@oscar

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Oscar shrugged when Dominique said that if he wasn’t being nice, neither was Anna. That was probably true, but he didn’t like to speak ill of people behind their backs – well, he didn’t like to speak ill of Anna, period, so that was probably more of it than disliking gossip. He smiled, though, when Dom said that she was glad that things were working out for them. He couldn’t imagine how they could go wrong, short of a mind-blowing tragedy – and even then, Oscar wasn’t convinced that they wouldn’t take it in stride. His smile faded a little when Dom said that she could understand what he was saying, about bad things making school difficult. Could she really, or was she just saying that because it was the polite thing to do? Oscar wasn’t sure he really wanted to find out the answer to that question. “They are.” Oscar affirmed quietly when Dom said she hoped things were getting better. Time made everything hurt a little less, so he wasn’t surprised that the further away the incident got, the more like his old self he felt.

“An obstacle course?” Oscar repeated. He wasn’t much good at physical activity, as a rule, but an obstacle course sounded like fun – more like a game than exercise. And he was interested in hearing more about Dom’s brother, another of Anna’s cousins, so maybe being near something that he had built would help to that end. “If you do not mind, I would like to see that.” He said, hoping that Dominique wouldn’t regret bringing it up and decide not to take him there.

@dominique

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He didn't seem pleased when Dom said she knew that bad things made school difficult. She didn't know if he believed her or had any idea of what happened, but he didn't ask so she wasn't going to volunteer the information. It was kind of a relief to know that she wasn't the only one struggling because of hard things. Then he said that things were getting better for him and Dom wanted to cry, but she held those feelings in and forced a smile, "I'm so glad," she told him, wishing she could say the same for herself but not volunteering that information either.

Then he seemed interested in the obstacle course and now Dom's smile was real. Any excuse to go back to that was a good excuse to her. "I don't mind at all!" She told him happily. "I love the obstacle course. When do you think you would have time to go and see it?" Of course, she didn't know if he was used to physical things like that, (most witches and wizards weren't as physical as she was) but she was definitely willing to help him if he needed it.  

@oscar

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Oscar smiled at Dom when she replied enthusiastically to his question about the obstacle course. His fears about her having second thoughts about inviting him to it were obviously unfounded. When Dominique asked when he would have time to come visit it, Oscar shrugged. “When I am not with your cousin, I am in the carriage studying.” That roughly translated to ‘I’m free all the time’, if Dom was comfortable with separating him from Anna in order to see the obstacle course. Oscar wasn’t sure how physically strenuous he ought to expect the course to be, but he was in fairly good shape for someone who wasn’t an athlete, since his adoptive father had always stressed the importance of physical health. Ozzy had also trained physically in order to prepare for the Tournament, but obviously that had been for naught, and he hadn’t kept up the more demanding schedule after Émile had been picked over him. Most Quidditch players were healthier and stronger than him, but that much was to be expected. If the course involved too much going upside-down, Oscar probably would have a hard time, but other than that, he expected to be able to compete with whatever challenge the obstacle course threw at him.

@dominique

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"Hmmmmm," Dom thought for a moment, trying to decide when would be the best moment to snag Oscar to take him on the obstacle course. Naturally, she could always approach Anna about it and tell her cousin about her plan so she wouldn't have to interrupt the couple sometime ... or she and Oscar could actually decide on a time and that way things would be less complicated. She nodded her head cheerfully, having made her decision. "I think we should go relatively soon. You see, my brother made the course and I'm not exactly sure how long he's going to leave it before taking it down. So do you have a specific time in the next few days when you could go or do you just want me to come and seek you out?" Honestly, Dom felt entirely comfortable either way. She could search for him or they could decide on something together first. "It's not too advanced; mostly there's a bit of climbing and a zip-line down the end," she grinned, remembering the feeling of wind rushing past her face. "That's my favorite part," she admitted, just in case he noticed her excitement. It was growing at the idea of going on the obstacle course again. Dom was glad that she'd been able to find someone that wanted to go with her. Besides that, he was a new friend and her cousin's boyfriend. Good job, Dom. This was turning out to be a very productive day.

@oscar

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Dom considered his availability carefully, which Oscar thought was slightly strange, since he was available practically every minute. He assumed that she just didn’t want to come across as pushy, which was strange, because he hadn’t ever expected one of the Weasley girls to care at all about whether or not they seemed pushy. Dominique finally said that she thought they ought to go sooner rather than later, because her brother might take the course down at any point. “I do not care.” Oscar confirmed. In fact, planning something would probably make him unnecessarily nervous. Having a break from studying that was legitimate, instead of just going to find his girlfriend, would be a welcome relief. Dom then explained that the course wasn’t too advanced, with the worst parts being climbing and a zip line. “I will have to remember not to wear my robes.” Oscar said. Robes got in the way of free movement sometimes, and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself by accidentally tripping on the hem of his robes during the obstacle course. Oscar offered Dom a smile when she said that the zip line was her favorite part. He couldn’t recall if he had ever gone ziplining, so it would be an interesting experience no matter how much he enjoyed it.

@dominique

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He said he did not care and Dom nodded, smiling still. "Alright, then I will come and find you when the time is right," she told him. Since he didn't care, that shouldn't be a problem. This way she could just figure it out in the moment, which was probably the way it would end up working anyhow. Dom was an impulsive person. She always had been and though she was going through a rough patch right now, something about this adventure with her cousin's boyfriend seemed fun to her and she was excited about it. She grinned when Oscar said he'd have to remember not to wear his robes. "That's fine. If you don't remember, I'll remind you," she teased, giving him a wink. Then she bit her lip in excitement. "This is going to be great!" Dom wasn't one to hide her emotions, but she was excited to spend time on that obstacle course again and making new friends was always something she liked. "So ... I'll see you around?" she asked. She'd like to keep on talking to him, but the conversation felt like it was over, so she wasn't going to force him to talk with her longer.

@oscar

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Dom said that she’d find him when the time was right, and Oscar couldn’t help but feel like they were planning some sort of conspiracy that somehow involved an obstacle course. He smiled at her when she said it, enjoying the feeling like the two of them were sharing some large secret. It was slightly strange, but also nice, to let someone in who wasn’t Anna. Dom said that she was going to remind him not to wear his robes if he forgot, and Oscar smiled at that. He smiled even wider when she said that their expedition was going to be great – her excitement was somewhat contagious. “Yes, I’ll see you around.” Oscar agreed. He was glad to have talked to Dominique, but now it was probably about time for him to go look for Anna… so that was what he did. He waved goodbye, and then was off towards the castle to search for his favorite red-head.

@dominique
(le end)