RP: A Friendly Dinner

[rar_ginny]

Date: Tuesday, 30 July 1999 | Dinnertime
Characters: Ginny Weasley, Oliver Wood
Location: Merlin's Garden
Status: Private
Summary: Ginny and Oliver go to dinner.
Status: Complete

Comments

[rar_oliver]

Oliver headed towards Merlin's Garden, running a few minutes late. It wasn't intentional, but he'd found he had a hard time closing up for the night at work.

He was looking forward to dinner with Ginny, but was also a little apprehensive. The more thought he'd given to his fancy, the more he realized that nothing could ever happen. If something were to happen, he'd either alienate the Weasleys or feel alienated from them. It just wasn't a risk he wanted to take right now, not after a failed relationship with one of his best friends. As much as he liked her, he knew it wasn't the right time to try anything. The reality was there might never be a right time, and he just hoped he'd get over it quickly enough. This was all assuming she liked him in return, which Oliver thought was statistically hard to imagine. He'd recently learned of the different blokes she'd dated, and found that there were no similarities between himself and the other blokes. That was a bit sobering, but really helped him realize he should just focus on his work and family, and not worry about birds at all. Not that it would be easy. Or even possible, he thought sadly.

Reaching the restaurant, he took a deep breath and went to find Ginny. He could be friendly and pleased to see her, but he'd have to curb his desire to flirt with her. "Ginny, hey," he greeted, sitting down across from her. "Sorry I'm a bit late. I was running behind at work," he lied, hoping she didn't press for details.

[rar_ginny]

Ginny looked up from the menu and smiled as Oliver breezed in and slide into a seat across from her. "Hey," she replied. She waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, don't worry about it. I've been looking at the menu anyway."

Since he mentioned being late, she asked, "Everything going okay at work? I assumed since the fundraiser had passed and been such a success, they might have given you a bit of a rest."

She watched him as he opened his menu. There seemed to be something off with him. Perhaps he was tired. He just seemed a bit subdued. She pushed it from her mind and asked, "Have you eaten here before?"

[rar_oliver]

Oliver felt his teeth clench. He should have known she'd be worried, she was considerate like that. "Oh, sure. Just a little behind schedule. I hate walking away for the day knowing I have to finish up the following morning. very unsettling."

"How's the shop? Still in one piece with your natural hair color, I see." Oliver smiled and set down his menu after deciding to just get a burger. "Yeah, a few times. They have good stuff generally. One of those places you can't go wrong with."

[rar_ginny]

Ginny nodded and closed her menu. "I understand that. George has a difficult time stopping working, too. Especially when he gets going on a specific project." She shrugged. "Since I'm part-time, I usually leave when I'm told," she said with a smile. "But I stay if they need me."

She didn't have the full-time job experience that Oliver had, but she assumed that if she had a real job and they needed her to stay, she would.

"The shop is doing well." She grinned at him. "And my hair is still red, as you can see," she added with an eyeroll.

"I think I'll have the chicken plate. Everything smells good though." She folded her arms in front of her. "Other than work, what have you been up to?"

[rar_oliver]

"Yeah. George is a hard worker. I'm sure you are, too."

He laughed. "That it is. I don't think you'd look like you if it were any other color."

"Nothing, same as always," he chuckled. "Helped my dad out the other day with some work around the farm. Went to Harry's birthday. Oh, and I guess it was Neville's birthday, too," he said. He hadn't been able to talk to Neville, but he seemed like a nice enough bloke. Less shy than he remembered from school, so that was good. He knew Ginny'd dated both Harry and Neville, but he didn't think bringing that up would be a very good idea.

[rar_ginny]

Ginny ordered water with lime to drink. She didn't feel like her usual butterbeer. She grabbed a lock of her hair and frowned at it. "Chocolate brown would have been a good color," she grumbled. "But then I suppose it would have clashed horribly with my pale skin and freckles."

They placed their meal order and she leaned back in the booth. "Yeah, I went, too. Harry and Neville seem to be doing quite well, and it's nice to see them both again. Nice to know we're still able to talk to each other...you never know...with how the War changed things, and how I acted...well, there were no guarantees. I mean, Hermione doesn't treat me the same, probably never will, but I was concerned that Harry would be similar, but we went to lunch and thankfully he wasn't. We had a nice chat. And..." She stopped abruptly and looked over at Oliver. She could feel the heat of the blush creep up her cheeks to her hairline.

"Shite, I was babbling. Sorry. That's probably all rubbish to you."

[rar_oliver]

He laughed. "It might, but I'm sure it'd look good."

Oliver hadn't known Ginny and Hermione had been friends, but he supposed that wasn't much of a surprise. He wouldn't think they had all that much in common, but really, he guessed they were both kind and smart witches. Plus, Hermione was obviously close on some level with most the Weasleys.

"Nah. It's cool. We all have our reflective moments."

[rar_ginny]

Ginny nodded and looked down at the table. "Yeah, I suppose so," she said quietly. "Just wish getting things back to normal wasn't so difficult." She looked up at him and shrugged. "And it's shite that some things will never be the same again because they can't be. Does that even make sense?"

She sighed. "But at least we can be as good as friends as we can be, yeah? I know sometimes it's difficult to be friends with people after you've dated." She felt somewhat awkward about talking about her past dating life with Oliver, but she didn't think he would really care. It's not like he looked at her that way, so for him, it was probably just useless knowledge to know about her past. "Harry and I weren't right for each other so I suppose that's why we can get along now. It wasn't ever going to work out. He's better suited to someone...not like me," she said with a smile. "And Neville...well, that relationship was borne out of a time when neither one of us were who we really were or who we were going to grow to be. People change."

She shrugged and chuckled. "But enough gloom and doom. Surely you have a good story to share."

[rar_oliver]

"Sure it does. I grew apart from my old friends, including George. It wasn't anything intentional, I think people just get older and change and shite." Oliver was over feeling badly about that, and when he did hang out with the old group from the WWW flat, it felt comfortable and easy, even if slightly different.

He shook his head. "Not a one, I'm afraid. I'm a pretty boring bloke, remember?"

[rar_ginny]

"You're not boring, Oliver," Ginny said and shook her head. "You're simply low-key, which is different."

Their food arrived and as Ginny cut into her chicken, she said, "I talked to Seamus Finnegan last week about his job at the Ministry. He works in the Accidental Magic department. I wanted to talk to someone who had experience in that area since it is a department I've been looking in to for jobs."

Ginny chewed her first bite and smiled. "It's good. How's yours?"

She watched Oliver. She didn't want to pry but it seemed like something was bothering him. And it wasn't like her not to be honest. "Sure everything's okay with you? You seem...different."

[rar_oliver]

"Low-key. I can probably deal with that," he said, smiling.

"Finnigan, huh? I forgot he worked there. Well, I might have never known he worked there, actually." Oliver thought about Ginny in that department. "From what I know of you, that sounds like a good fit. You're calm and collected, so that would work pretty well, I think."

He hummed in approval. "Quite good."

Oliver always thought Ginny was too perceptive for her own good. "I'm fine. Probably just tired. And missing Quidditch, maybe?" he said, unsure.

[rar_ginny]

Ginny ate a chip and stared out through a nearby window. "The odd work hours would be my only objection. Seamus said they can owl you at anytime for anything. Imagine cleaning up a sanitation problem at 3 a.m. Course it will keep life interesting," she said. "No risk of a boring job. Messy. But not boring."

She looked at Oliver and stayed quiet for a moment. She didn't want to pry or seem nosy, but she did care about him, and friends were supposed to take care of each other. She and Oliver were friends, right?

She blew out a lungful of air. "Are you having regrets? About staying here, I mean?"

[rar_oliver]

He nodded. "Well, I think exciting is certainly worth something," he shrugged.

"No. It's just," he combed his hand through his hair, "I guess being on the road was easier, if that makes any sense. No one expects anything when you're never home." He shrugged again. "I'm being a chick; don't worry. It goes away if you ignore it."

[rar_ginny]

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I won't take that as offensive, but I should inform you that not all chicks are alike," she said with a smile.

She drank her water and leaned back. She was only half finished with her chicken, but she wasn't sure she could eat any more. "Running away is always easier," Ginny said. "At least at first it is. I'm not saying you're running away, so don't think that. I'm just saying that people can't ask you for anything if you're never there. They don't expect anything from you. I understand that. I ran away myself for a while. It was easier than dealing with the actual problem."

Ginny sighed. "If there's anything I can do to make things easier for you, let me know, yeah? I'm your friend. That's what I'm here for." She smiled at him. So what if he was a bloody handsome friend.