His Quidditch Princess
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any HP characters. I do, however, own my OC (Hayden Pratt) and her father (Elliott Pratt).
Author's Note: Hey readers, just thought I'd give you a little information on the OC. Her name is Hayden Elaine Pratt. She's in the same year as Oliver at this point, and is of British and Irish descent. Some of her background is revealed throughout the story, but her appearance isn't quite clear. She has long, chocolate brown hair that falls down past her shoulders, and she has striking sky blue eyes. She has an average white skin tone, not pale, but she's somewhat tan. She's also average height, roughly five foot five, and she has an athletic build. I guess that's about it… On with the story.
The sound of the crowd rang in my ears as I tried to find a good seat in one of the Gryffindor spectator stands. I managed to squeeze my way through the mass of scarlet and gold, until I found a small space that was open in the front row.
"Perfect," I thought outloud to myself as I pushed past first years and the groundskeeper, Hagrid. The wind blew my hair into my face, obscuring my vision at the exact moment the Gryffindor sections burst into applause and cheers. I immediately assumed the Gryffindor Quidditch team had just come out of the tunnel.
After clipping back a section of hair with a beautifully bejeweled clip that had been given to me last year for my birthday, I felt the wind pick up as broomstick after broomstick rushed past me in a blur. The announcer, Lee Jordan, came onto the PA system, welcoming everyone to the first game of the season.
"I see you're wearing one of the clips I gave you."
I turned towards the sound of the familiar voice, "Well, hello there, Oliver. It's nice to see you on this fine windy day. I don't suppose you're busy, seeing as you have the time to dilly-dally on your way to the goal posts."
A blush crept across the Scotsman's face.
"Oh, come off it," Oliver said. His Scottish accent drove me up the wall; it had been music to my ears ever since the day we met.
"Madam Hooch is on the field now. I've got to go."
He leaned forward and took my ungloved hand in his, kissing it. A dark blush dominated my cheeks.
"Wish me luck, my Quidditch princess." Before I could blink, he sped off to the goal posts.
"Good luck…" I whispered.
A first year leaned over to me just as the Quaffle was released.
"Are you and Oliver dating?" Her voice was prompt and somewhat bossy.
I shook my head, "Oh, no! Of course not! He's my best friend… But, I've had a crush on him since the day we arrived at Hogwarts. There's not another guy like him."
I looked out at him as he blocked a Quaffle and sent it back to Katie Bell, one of the Gryffindor chasers. A sweet smile slowly appeared on the first year's face.
"By the way, I'm Hayden Pratt. What's your name?"
She shook my hand, "I'm Hermione Granger. Pratt-"
I could see the light bulb light up over her head.
"You don't happen to be related to Elliott Pratt?"
I grinned widely.
"Why yes, that's my father. Famous as ever, I see."
Hermione was practically beaming, "I read all about him in Quidditch Through the Ages."
I couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh, yes. The Quidditch books. I've forgotten all about those! Well, it's only because of my father that Oliver and I met. When I was boarding the train my first year, I had dropped my handkerchief on the ground and Oliver just so happened to pick it up at the exact moment my father did. After Oliver got over the shock of who he was standing next to, he must have shook my father's hand a hundred times, spouting off Puddlemere stats and player information like it was nothing. My father was quite impressed, to be frank. 'By god, this boy is bloody brilliant!' Those were my father's exact words."
I had drowned out Lee's voice as I talked, but now he was shouting in triumph as Gryffindor scored the first ten points of the game.
"What's it like, being the daughter of a Quidditch team owner?" Hermione asked as her bushy brown hair flared up in the wind.
"Well, I get free merchandise all the time. I get an owl every morning from my parents, a letter from my mum and a present from my father. I usually give the merchandise to Oliver, and I bet he has had to bewitched his trunk several times just to fit all of the stuff I've given him. I've probably given him about a hundred jerseys. He still sleeps in the Puddlemere pajama set that I gave to him for his birthday last year. Everytime I give him something with the Puddlemere logo on it, he'll grin so wildly. You'd think he'll just keel over and have a heart attack. I spoil that boy, I really do. I'm practically the girl of his dreams, but…"
My voice trailed off as Marcus Flint came in to try and score for Slytherin. He hurled the Quaffle towards the rings, but Oliver intercepted it. It bounced off of his broom and back into the hands of one of our chasers.
"But what?" Hermione asked a little impatiently.
"I think he and Alicia Spinnet are secretly talking. She flirts with him all the time."
Hermione's smile fell as she looked out at Oliver. He had just caught another Quaffle, but Flint had just taken a Beater's bat and fouled Oliver with a bludger. I gasped as Oliver was knocked backwards and tumbled to the ground, which happened to be several feet down.
"Oliver! You've got to get back up!" I screamed as loudly as I could.
When it seemed like the situation couldn't get any worse, Harry Potter's broomstick started acting out of control. Hermione turned her head to Ron, the youngest Weasley brother. After a minute of conversing with him, she jumped up and left. It wasn't long before Harry regained control of his broom and was back on, searching for the Golden Snitch. Not being able to stand it anymore, I rushed down the stairs in hopes of getting to Oliver as quickly as I could.
I could hear gasps and awes coming from the large crowd as Harry and the Slytherin seeker battled it out in a test of speed. It wasn't until I had reached the bottom flight that Lee Jordan announced that Harry had caught the snitch and Gryffindor now had a win under their belt. This didn't stop me from running onto the pitch and sliding right through the sand.
"Oliver!" I shook him gently at first, and then forcefully.
"Oliver... Wake up! Gryffindor won!"
He didn't stir.
"I might have to restore to drastic measures…" I mumbled quietly.
Just as I started to lean down towards Oliver's lips, a pair of feet landed on the other side of Oliver.
"Is Oliver okay? Oh, I hope he wakes up soon! We're having a party in the common room and-"
"Oh, come off it, Alicia! The only thing you want to do is snog Oliver! Go bother someone else, and leave us the hell alone, you git!"
She turned sharply on her heel, and stormed off, picking up her broom and kicking off the ground with so much force, she probably would have cracked it.
"Did you just tell off Alicia Spinnet, one of my outside chasers?"
I cringed. I'd just been caught red-handed.
"Uh… Maybe?"
Oliver's face remained blank. Had I gone mad? What if he did like Alicia and now he knew that I didn't like her? Was he going to hate me now? I slapped myself in the forehead and slowly got up, walking off towards one of the exit gates.
I felt a warm hand grasp mine and pull me towards an even warmer body.
"And where do you think you're going?" Oliver's voice whispered to me.
"I was going to leave. I'm willing to bet you're mad at me."
Oliver scoffed, "Hardly. I was going to tell you thank you. Alicia won't leave me alone, and bloody hell was she getting on my nerves."
He caressed my hair and smoothed it down, making it lay flat again.
"She wouldn't get off my back, and I kept telling her that I've had my eye on another girl for quite some time, years even. I think it was love at first sight, to be honest." I tried to choke back tears.
What if that girl wasn't me? What was I going to do if he said it was some other girl I was friends with?
"I bet that girl is wonderful, Oliver. Once you tell her that you love her, you should treat her like a princess. Never let her go, do you hear me? She'll be lucky to have you."
My breathing became shallow as I fought the tears. I kept trying to worm my way out of his embrace.
"Oh, I already do treat her like a princess. And, maybe if she stopped trying to get away from me, maybe I could tell her that."
I nearly gasped, stopping in my tracks and letting my hands fall to my sides.
"You have a girlfriend, and you didn't tell me?" Oliver's mouth formed an O and he quickly grasped my hands.
"No! Of course not!" I could feel myself calming down.
"Then what are you talking about?" I asked him. He clutched my hands in his, blocking them from the cold wind and keeping them warm.
"I already treat her like a princess. She's my Quidditch princess, the girl of my dreams. Her father owns my favorite team in the entire world, and it was because of him that I met her. She's funny, and bloody brilliant. Merlin, is she brilliant. She's also beautiful, and she's just as crazy about Quidditch as I am. Not only is she talented in everything she does, she's also kind, caring, and one of the greatest friends I could have asked for. I still wear the Puddlemere pajamas that she gave me for my birthday last year. I wear them every night."
A huge smile broke out onto my face, and I was practically beaming like the sunshine.
"If this girl is that special to you, why haven't you asked her to be your girlfriend already?"
Oliver chuckled, "I always thought she'd say no." I leaned in closer to him, and I could feel his hot breath on my face.
"Good god, Oliver. I could never say no to you!"
At that point, both of us had a huge smile on our face and were so close to each other that we couldn't fit a thin piece of parchment between us.
"Hayden Pratt, will you be my girlfriend?" I hugged him tightly.
"Of course I will, Oliver! I've been waiting years for you to ask that!" He leaned down to kiss me, and it was then that I knew that I couldn't wait for the rest of my life to begin.