Deja Vu
by
Aranna Undomiel
A/N: I don't own anything from Harry Potter, unfortunately ;0. Idea came up in my head when I saw "The Philosopher's Stone" once again a while ago. Hope you enjoy! It's not beta-ed so all mistakes are to be blamed on me ;)
You all have to thank (or blame ;), depending on what you think of it) my friend Lillian for getting me to post this.
Oh the horizontal line means there's a timeshift. Everything written in Italics is happening in the past and therefore in the mind of Oliver Wood.
Hope you enjoy!
He hadn't been able to eat that morning, just like he hadn't been able to sleep. He hadn't felt more nervous in his entire life. Not that his life had been that long already, after all, he was only 14 at the time. But he hadn't know that feeling before, not until they were standing in the spot they were standing right now, waiting for the doors to open and the game to begin. Nervousness wasn't really the right word. His heart had thumped madly, seemingly trying to break out of his ribcage; a part of him wondered if his teammates could hear it over the shouts of the excited crowd. His throat was parched, but no matter how much he tried, no saliva came, his tongue equally dry, leaving him nothing to swallow. This in contrast with the rest of his body, as, despite the cold of the early morning, small streams of sweat were starting to trickle downward along his back, neck and head. He wiped his sweaty hands on his robe and tried to slow his heartbeat by breathing deeply. He had to stay calm, for today needed to be his day...today he needed to show all those people what he was born to do!
From the moment he had known he was going to Hogwarts he had only one thing in mind, the thing he knew he was born for. The moment he had stepped on his first broom as a young boy, he had felt like he belonged, like this was what he was living for. He had never felt more alive, soaring through the air and he couldn't get enough of that feeling. His whole life soon revolved around flying and playing.
How jealous he had been, during his first year. To be forced to watch those matches while he couldn't be up there. He followed every player's movements, picturing himself to be in their places instead. As soon as his second year started, he applied for a position in the Gryffindor-team, but they already had a good Watcher. It was hard to hide his disappointment as they offered him the position of Beater instead. He finally decided to take it, after all, even flying as a Beater was a lot better than having to stay on the ground watching the game. He had been very nervous before his first match, but still, nothing compared to what he felt now...
Today needed to be his day!
For during their last match, their number 1 Watcher had been pushed of his broom by one of the Ravenclaws and had broken a lot of bones and acquired a nasty concussion. And though he felt somewhat guilty for his happiness about that event and though he honestly felt sorry for their Watcher, nothing could dampen his total joy over the fact that their Captain had chosen him to be the Watcher in the next game against Slytherin. He hadn't been able to stop smiling since...
His smile widened even more just thinking of it and his eyes started to shine as he thought of all the incredible moves that he was going to perform and how he would become the Man of the Match.
He was snapped out of his daydreaming when the doors in front of him opened and sunlight filtered in. The roars of the crowd increased in volume as Gryffindor's team swung their legs over their brooms and flew out onto the field. They circled around the field a few times at full speed. He looked around to keep an eye on his new Seeker; clearly remembering the start of his own first game...
After nearly missing a few turns in his excitement, he flew to his position in front of the three hoops. He slightly shifted his position on his broom, but leaned forward a bit too much and promptly dropped a few feet. His ears and cheeks a bright red, he adjusted his weight and climbed back up to his position, all the while looking around to see if anyone noticed.
Shame was quickly replaced with excitement and fear as he spotted a Chaser from the other team coming towards him, Quaffle ready to throw. As he studied the movements of the Chaser, fear disappeared and instinct took over. He knew before the Chaser even threw where it would end up and he quickly took position and easily caught the Quaffle. He tossed it to one of Gryffindor's Chasers, who sprinted towards Slytherin's hoops and... scored!
Once again, Slytherin launched an attack at his hoops, but with a little more effort he tipped the Quaffle over the top of the right hoop and flew down to catch it, throwing it to one of his Chasers again. She unfortunately quickly lost it again; still on Gryffindor's half, with him hanging halfway above the ground under the right hoop. The Slytherinchaser predictably threw the Quaffle towards the left hoop and he bend forward over his broom, using all the speed it could give. He ducked a Bludger directed at him and just before the Quaffle would fly through the hoop he snatched it away. One side of the stadium exploded in cheers and the grin that had been on his face from the first second, now went from ear to ear and his eyes shone as he took in the shouted complements of his teammembers and the angry looks on the Slytherin faces. He vaguely noticed the two Beaters of Slytherin sharing a look before they both swung out their arms and hit their Bludgers with all their force, directing them towards him. For a moment he just hung there, paralyzed with shock as the two Bludgers hurled towards him from two different angles; one low from his left, the other one high from his right. The Bludger from his left would reach him first and he snapped out of his daze, setting in the maneuver necessary to avoid it. It missed him indeed, but it hit the back of his broom, sending him into a tailspin, unable to steer anymore. He tried to get out of the way of the second Bludger, but with a broken broom there wasn't much he could do... He looked up for a second and the last thing he saw before his world exploded in stars of pain and everything went black, was the Bludger, right before his eyes...
He barely suppressed a wince as he remembered the pain. He had woken up two weeks later in hospital, with no residual damage to his head, much to the relieve of his parents, his doctors and the entire population of Hogwarts (well, save for the Slytherinpart, that is). His first question had been: Did we win?
He had been named Captain the year after that, but so far they hadn't been able to win the Quidditch Cup. But maybe this year, with Harry as their Seeker, things were looking good...very good. He looked around for his teammate and spotted him hanging a fair amount above the field, searching with clearly visible determination for the Snitch.
Yes, things are looking definitely good he thought before refocusing his attention back at the game that had started a few moments ago. He performed a couple of nice saves during the first few minutes, nothing too spectacular, but enough to anger the Slytherin's he noticed and he smirked at Slytherin's captain Flint. He went to turn his attention back to the game, until something else caught his eye.
Whoa, deja vu, was the first thought that came to mind as he noticed the look on the faces of Flint and his Beater, right before the first one swung his club at the approaching Bludger and sent it flying in his direction. Oh man, not again! Was his last thought as he stared at the dented surface of the Bludger before everything went dark and he tumbled backwards through the ring, crashing into the sand below the hoops...
THE END
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