This whole thing is more fluff than actual romance and it's a pretty old piece that I'd been unsure about posting for a long time. If you see any mistakes (especially spelling and/or grammar), tell me! PLEASE! So I can fix it.

I don't own anything although I wouldn't mind owning a certain quidditch captain, haha. ;P Reviews are loved. :)


"Hullo, Oliver. Glad you're awake."
Oliver Wood opened his eyes and peered through blurry eyes at a girl from his year who was sitting on the edge of his hospital bed. She was another fellow Gryffindor, that much was obvious. Only five inches shorter than his 5'9", Sabrene Lionel had brown eyes and dark auburn hair to match. Faint and few freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. Her lopsided smile tended to be contagious and as foggy minded as Oliver was, he found himself smiling back weakly.
"I'm Sabrene Lionel. You and I share a few classes. Professor McGonagall asked me to fill you in on how the game went and to give you these. You've been out for four days, Wood. That bludger you took to the head must've done some real damage," she teased lightly, handing him a small stack of papers.
"It's the important homework. It's all mostly potions and two History of magic essays."
Accepting the papers, he groaned and flopped his head back against his pillows, wincing as he did. Sabrene bit back a grin and stood up.
"If you need, I can help you with the homework," She said as she started to leave. Suddenly he jerked back up.
"Wait, you didn't tell me how the game went." He looked genuinely worried that she would leave without telling him. She sat back down on the bed and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Who won?" he asked quickly. Sabrene blew a lock of hair out of her face. Oliver picked up pretty quick on the fact that she was stalling. She took and let out another breath before answering.
"Wood, no one blames you, but we lost. The game went down hill after you got knocked out," Sabrene said apologetically. Oliver squeezed his eyes shut and winced, suddenly noticing the terrible, pulsing, throbbing in his head.
"How badly did we lose?"
"Um, 120 to 40," she whispered, biting her lip. Oliver groaned again and rubbed a hand over his eyes wearily.
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news." Sabrene got up to leave and this time Oliver let her. When he opened his eyes again to ask her if she could get him something for his headache before she left, she was already gone, leaving only a pile of homework as proof that she had been there at all. He left the hospital wing in time for dinner that evening, where he saw her again.
She was sitting with a few girl friends of her's farther down the table from where he usually sat but he didn't approach her and she didn't see him. Well, he thought she didn't see him anyway. She had, in fact, noticed him, but hadn't wanted to approach either. She was tired of trying to be friends with people and have them treat her like shit. She wasn't sure if he would be like this, but she figured, why take the chance?
In between one of their classes a few days later though, Sabrene had partially changed her mind and she approached Oliver.
"Hey, how's your head?" she asked. His two friends, a boy and a girl who were probably on the quidditch team but she wasn't sure, slipped away. Oliver reached up to rub the side of his head, wincing when he touched a tender bruise.
"It's okay. Still kind of battered and bruised, but I'll live," he said. She smiled. She liked the way he spoke. Soft, and Sottish. Not originally being from the UK, she didn't have that kind of accent.
"Good. You'd better live. We've a game on Friday and Tiana won't shut up about how Gryffindor lost last time."
"Tiana? She's Slytherin then?"
"Yeah, we came to school together and got sorted into different houses. She's becoming more and more like her house every day. It's irritating really. Anyway, you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Hey, does your offer still stand?" he asked, sounding a little embarrassed. Sabrene raised an eye brow in question and they began to walk to their next class, one of the few that they shared: potions.
"What? Help with homework?"
"That one. I can never seem to find the time in between classes and Quidditch practice."
"You do seem to spend a lot of time planning and re-planning your Quidditch plays. Are you free after dinner tonight or do you have more planning to do?" He smiled at her hesitant teasing, said he was free and asked if the library was a good place to meet. She agreed that is was. They entered the dungeon and took their seats as the Professor entered.
They went their separate ways after class and didn't see each other until dinner that evening because Oliver had to cancel their study session when the Quidditch team had an emergency practice and very long meeting afterwards.
Sabrene had been sitting at the Gryffindor table in between a girl and a boy she had seen in the halls and shared a class or two with but didn't know very well, for a while, but couldn't take it anymore so she got up and walked down the aisle between two of the tables, heading in the general direction of the common room.
"Hi, Sabrene," Oliver said as she passed him. She paused and blinked, startled at having heard her name. Her eyes roamed the backs of people's head until she found Oliver.
"Oh, hello Oliver," she said, smiling, abet a bit tiredly. She wasn't annoyed that he had canceled on her, but she did really want to just go sleep for a long while. Her head was beginning to pound. She mildly wondered what was wrong.
"Come sit," he offered, motioning to a seat beside him. Sabrene bit her lip, hesitating, debating on whether to accept or not. He motioned again as the person beside him scooted down and she reluctantly sat down beside him in the now empty place.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asked, nodding at the empty plate in front of her. Sabrene shrugged.
"Wasn't hungry," she said truthfully with a shrug. Oliver shook his head and Sabrene gave him a "what?" look as he took a bite of food.
"You girls and your not eating," he teased, taking another bite. She picked up a clean fork up and reached past Oliver's elbow to spear a piece of roast beef off his plate.
"Hey!" He exclaimed as she popped it in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before smiling pleasantly at him.
"You were the one who complained about my not eating, so you are so very kindly allowing me to pick off your plate."
"Am not," he muttered, but he let her snag a bit of potatoes and another bite of meat off his plate, before dessert replaced dinner on the tables. She sighed and placed her fork back down on the table, beside a still clean plate. Her stomach cramped painfully and Sabrene pressed her hand over her stomach, hoping but failing to ease the pain.
"What dessert do you want?" he asked. Sabrene pursed her lips and finally shook her head. "I don't want any." "Yes, you do," Oliver answered, scooping some pudding onto his plate. She shook her head again.
"I really don't, Oliver, but thanks anyway. Now what did you want to talk to me about? You wouldn't have just had me sit here if you didn't have a reason." Oliver shrugged and pushed his pudding around his plate with his spoon.
"I dunno. You looked kinda lonely and I figured...that, well...what does it matter? Also I wanted to apologize for having to cancel tonight." He seemed a little flustered and now it was Sabrene's turn to shrug.
"Don't worry about it. A better time will come up. And I like having answers, that's all. Yours was not a very good one."
"It was an answer wasn't it?" Oliver mumbled around a spoonful of pudding. Sabrene smiled, wanting to laugh but knowing that would hurt her stomach too much to be worth it. Also, she didn't want to offend Oliver by accident.
"Sorry about having to cancel. I really would like help with the homework, it's just...Quidditch is really important to me."
"I understand," Sabrene answered, putting her chin in her hand and resting her elbow on the table. "I'm kind of tired this evening anyway. So come find me when ever you've got an hour or so free. I'll see you around, Wood." Sabrene got up and left rather quickly, before Oliver could say anything. The pounding in her head was getting worse. She hoped she wouldn't pass out like the last time this had happened. Or throw up.
At the thought of being sick out in the hall, where anyone could witness it, Sabrene hastily slipped into the girl's bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her. Feeling dizzy, she leaned her back against the door and tried to slow her breathing. In through her nose, out through her mouth. This always seemed to work, helping to settle her nerves and calm the sick feeling swirling around in her stomach, but it always made her want to yawn. In the middle of a yawn that reminded Sabrene how tired she was, someone stuck their head through the stall door to her left and spoke, starling her.
"What's wrong with you?" Sabrene jumped a mile and nearly shrieked.
"Myrtle! Don't do that! Stop doing that!"
"Doing what?" Moaning Myrtle asked sweetly in her high pitched voice.
"Sneaking up on me," Sabrene told the ghost, when in truth she minded it very little because Myrtle almost never caught Sabrene off guard.
Myrtle giggled and rose up in the air before diving into the toilet of the stall she had previously been occupying. Sabrene cringed, hearing the water splash onto the floor, but also thankful because it meant that Myrtle would leave her alone for a little while. Sabrene walked over to one of the sinks and looked at her reflection in the slightly warped mirror. She looked tired, her pale skin making the dark circles under her eyes look like bruises. Sabrene moaned and leaned down to rest her head on her arm on the edge of the sink. Oliver had seen her like this. Brilliant.