A big shoutout and thanks to MagicalButts for the finnspiration. Your story is gonna be amazing. And my character is gonna be there! Aaaaaahhhh!
This was his year. He was going to get his hands on that Quidditch House Cup. Oliver Wood had spent all summer coming up with tactics, training session plans, strategies, new manoeuvres. Nothing was going to stop him. Okay so that debacle with the Slytherin team the first morning he'd tried to train had set them back and rankled him royally… But nothing was going to stop him.
"OLIVER! I'M SORRY!" A rare apology from George Weasley, he noted, as he fell from his broom. He'd cherish it for life. He landed on the ground with a muffled thud, and stared up at the sky, a rasp of breath escaping him. That had hurt. His team crowded in around him, panicking. Angelina wasn't there. She was the sensible one. She was probably running off to get help. It wasn't his first bludger, and it wasn't going to be his last.
"Keep. Up. The drills." he managed to croak out. Him getting injured was no excuse for them to not practice. Alicia looked on horrified. Oliver's left leg was at a sickening angle. Katie grabbed the Weasley twins, and called for Alicia and Harry to follow her. He was glad of the space. He drifted out of consciousness, mentally kicking himself for not seeing that bludger coming. If he had just dodged it, then he wouldn't have had wasted another session.
He came in and out of waking as they brought him up to the castle. Any slight jostle made him grunt in pain. He had hit his head pretty badly too. That was the only explanation for why he couldn't stay awake. Or maybe he had stayed up longer than he thought last night planning his murder of Percy Weasley. Madam Pomfrey had treated his broken leg swiftly, but there were other injuries she had to give a bit of time. He lay in the Hospital Wing drifting in and out of consciousness, bruised and aching, and wondering how he was meant to make up the lost time. He spent most of his first there asleep. Apparently the team came to visit him, but he'd been sleeping. Madam Pomfrey announced it to him in annoyance. She disliked those loud Weasley twins. Classes resumed on Monday morning, and Oliver was still laid up, resting. He couldn't afford to be missing classes as well. He fumed quietly, as he read over his heavily thumbed copy of Quidditch Through the Ages. He couldn't allow Flint to steal this cup from him. It wasn't going to happen. He'd sooner kiss the giant squid than lose to that snake again. He felt sickened. His team needed to take this thing more seriously. This should be the most important thing in their lives this year!
A few classes into the day, Oliver suddenly had company. A tall, dark haired girl came rushing into the Hospital wing. Oliver sat straighter, suddenly viscerally aware that he was in his pyjamas. He glanced over the top of his book at her. She was a Gryffindor. She was in his year, wasn't she? Valentine. She was a prefect. Pretty girl, great bone structure. She looked cross, and a quite unwell right now though.
"Is Madam Pomfrey in?" she asked, turning to him. She had a soft Irish accent. He stared into her big, worried blue eyes.
"Uh. Yes. She's in her office." The girl nodded and walked quickly to the matron's office, knocking delicately on the door.
"Madam Pomfrey, it happened again." Her voice was strained. Oliver watched as there was a flurry of sudden activity from Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling open cabinets and mixing concoctions with great speed.
"Where is the sting?"
"Hand this time." Madam Pomfrey nodded, and worked all the faster. Oliver watched with growing concern. What had happened? Could he help?
"Drink this." The matron pressed a glass into the tall girl's hands. She downed the contents immediately and sighed. Her shoulders slumped and she sat on the edge of a bed.
"This can't keep happening, Miss Valentine. I think it would be wise to consider forgoing Herbology. It isn't worth your life." The girl looked obstinate, but she graciously thanked Madam Pomfrey for her help. "Go and lie down. Merlin knows Mr. Wood could do with some company." She looked over at Oliver again, this time she didn't look as strained. She gave him a small smile and a nod of her head. He nodded back, his eyes darting immediately back to his book. He knew her from class. She wasn't in his friend group, but she hated Percy Weasley as much as the rest of them. She was top of every class, but she helped people out with their homework. From what little he knew about her, she was a nice girl. Not at all snobbish, even if she was from one of the oldest most prestigious pure-blood families. The matron bustled back to her office, leaving the two of them alone in the empty Hospital Wing. The girl swung her legs up on the bed next to him and lay down, closing her eyes for a moment.
"What are you in for?" Oliver asked, before he even realised he was going to speak. The girl opened her eyes and looked at him again.
"Venomous Tentacula got me again. I've a bit of an allergy. Was about to die. Thankfully Madam Pomfrey puts me to rights every time." She had the smallest of smirks on her lips. She eyes Oliver for a second. "Who beat you up?" He chuckled a laugh. Oliver wasn't really the laughing type.
"The ground. Took a fall." She frowned and shook her head.
"You should be careful. You could really hurt yourself that way." He chuckled again, and she graced him again with a small smile. "Aquila Virgo Valentine. It would have been nicer to chat with you under better circumstances." Talking for the first time in the Hospital Wing was far from ideal.
"Hey you do Transfiguration, don't you?" He didn't quite understand why he was casting for something to talk about, but he didn't want to sit in awkward silence with her. She tilted her head and scrutinised his face.
"That's where I know you from! We have Transfiguration together. Professor keeps moving you to front for doodling? I dunno. Yeah, I take Transfiguration." He chuckled nervously. It was his worst subject, and he often drew out Quidditch match plans instead of paying attention.
"What is up with vanishment? I just don't get it." He shrugged. Maybe she could help him. He needed good grades in Transfiguration. His N.E.W.T.s were coming up next year.
"Hey, if we ever get let out of here, I could show you how it's done. I'm in the library every night. I don't mind helping people out." She smiled warmly this time. He smiled back. He had no idea why he hadn't spoken to her before now. She was very friendly! Sure, as a prefect she could seem a bit intimidating. But here she was offering to help him. Oliver appreciated that. He appreciated that she was a smart girl and she was willing to help others with what she had naturally. She curled up under the blanket and coughed delicately. She shivered and performed a summoning charm on the blanket from the empty bed beside her.
"I think I need to sleep this one out. Talk to you soon, Wood." She closed her eyes, and she seemed to fall immediately asleep. Oliver tried to delve back into the copy of Quidditch Through the Ages, which he had borrowed from the library. But he found his eyes wandering back to the sleeping Gryffindor girl beside him. Everything she did was delicate and elegant. Her face was a picture of serenity asleep, with one of her elegant hand cushioned beneath her face. He tried even harder to make himself concentrate on the book he'd read a hundred times, but he couldn't seem to stop looking back at her. He wanted to make sure she was okay. That was it.