The Keeper

Chapter 29

The songs I listened to were St James Infirmary by Hugh Laurie, Learn To Love Again by Lawson and It Must Have Been Love by Roxette.

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*

Turns out, our plan was easier said than done. Oliver was stuck to Gillian's hip - almost literally. It did nothing but strengthen our suspicion regarding the use of amortentia. Because of this, we leapt onto every available opportunity to separate them. In vain, however.

Sasha, with Aleeza, Louise and me watching from a few feet away, approached Oliver during lunch as he was walking to Gillian. She held up a hand in front of her to stop him going any further. He frowned.

"I need to talk to you," she said, her voice heavy. I always admired her acting.

Oliver stood up a little taller to look over her shoulder at Gillian. His face softened as he caught sight of her. "Do you have to?" he asked.

"Yes." She paused. "It's about Quidditch!"

We all expected an immediate reaction. There wasn't one. He simply stared at her blankly.

"If you don't mind," Oliver said, stepping around Sasha, "I'm going to see Gillian now."

Sasha scoffed, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "You love Quidditch! You breathe it! Why aren't you interested in it anymore?"

Glancing quickly at Gillian, he shrugged. "I have more important things to do. Like I said, I'm going to see Gillian now, " he replied. And with that, he disappeared.

Sasha turned to us, her mouth slightly parted and her eyes wide.

*

Our luck seemed to change for the better during an Astronomy lesson. Professor Sinistra set us coursework that we had to base around one of Jupiter's moons.

"You will be working in pairs," she stated, her hands in the prayer position. Suddenly, she pointed to Sasha and Felix. "Preden with Sura." They grinned at each other and I smiled too because I'd recently started to imagine them as a couple.

The professor continued assigning pairs. I held my breath when she said my surname. She paused for a moment before pointing at someone. "Wood."

Sasha met my eyes immediately. She gave me a thumbs-up. It was the perfect chance to keep him away from Gillian until the effects of amortentia would wear off. Professor Sinistra instructed us to begin working on our project.

I joined Oliver at his desk where he sat, his lips pushed into a slight pout.

"Everything okay?" I asked as I set down my books.

"No," he snapped. "I don't want to work with you. Or anyone else. Only Gillian. We get along so well and I love her so much. We'd get an amazing project done. I might talk to Professor Sinistra after the lesson."

I bit my lip. His words hurt but I managed to brush them off. "Well once we get this project finished, you can go back to Gillian. How does that sound?"

"Not ideal."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to endure our partnership," I said.

He frowned again.

The next hour was difficult but we actually managed to get some work done. Also, I convinced Oliver that we needed to spend lunch in the library (where no food or drink was allowed, so no chance for amortentia consumption).

Oliver trailed behind me as I found an empty table in a quiet corner. With a thump, I put the thick textbook on Io, our chosen moon, on the table. He sat opposite me, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Remind me why I'm spending lunch here instead of with Gillian?" he asked.

I exhaled sharply. "First of all, your whole life does not revolve around Gillian so drop the topic. Second, this project is important and judging by the way this is going, we're gonna have to continue this at dinner." Shocked, he opened his mouth but I cut him off. "No complaining. Neither of us wants to fail this project so we both have to put the work in."

It was clear Oliver didn't seem happy at the prospect of being without Gillian for the evening. But I honestly didn't care. I just wanted the old Oliver back.

We were working throughout all of lunch and I was fairly certain that none of his food was spiked with amortentia. During the following lessons, all I could do was hope that Gillian hadn't slipped it to him.

To my surprise, he actually turned up at the library at dinnertime, albeit very sulkily. He made a point to complain about the things he'd rather be doing as he joined me at the table we used earlier.

I was already skimming through another book I'd found on Io when he slumped into his chair.

"I suppose I might as well get this over with," Oliver muttered.

"Thank you for your sacrifice," I said. I pushed the book I was reading over to him. "I've found some interesting information about Io's orbit and the amount of water it contains. See if you can find something else while I grab another book."

"Fine," he sighed, dramatically flipping a page.

I rolled my eyes as I made my way to the astronomy section of the library. It took me a minute or so to find a book that I suspected would be useful. Irritatingly, it was extremely heavy so I spend a considerable amount of time removing it from the shelf.

I started to read while walking back to Oliver.

"Hey," I said, "there's something in here about the Copernican solar system model-" When I looked up, I almost dropped the book.

Gillian was perched on Oliver's knee, handing him a glass.