All rights for Harry Potter goes to the amazing JK Rowling
Just Like Real Magic
Chapter 1; A Welcome Back
It was a rainy summer day and even though I'm practically allergic to the rain I was out, running on the fields in Scotland and getting more soaked by the minute. I'm Hailee McDonald, and there's only on reason why the thought of being outside in the ice cold air, with a heavy wind that blowing in my face and the rain pouring, and that reason is spelled;
Oliver Wood.
Even though the rain was pouring, I couldn't care less. Every time Oliver comes back from his school during summer I'm happier than I remember ever being. Since he goes to a boarding school somewhere in Britain (he isn't big on details so I only see him during summer and winter because of that stupid bloody school)
Even though we're neighbors it was out of sheer luck really that we actually met, you see one thing to know about the Wood's is that they aren't the most…social family around here. They are really nice and friendly but they like to keep to themselves here, however they do usually have a lot of visitors so it isn't like they are the Adam's family or antisocial. I guess they just don't feel like they belong here so much.
I had been five years and I had just gotten a new bike, so I had been feeling adventurous one day and while my parents had been busy with the farm I took out my new blue bicycle and started to pedal around the house, but that got to boring after a while and I had decided to go out on the road and bike there.
I had gotten quite far, and there hadn't been a single car or tractor in sight until I was on the road, next to a small hill where a big house stood. There, a big van was coming behind me, and in the blink of an eye I had saw it and jumped of my bike and dived to the hard ground, it hurt like hell.
My knees got covered with bruises and I had started to cry as the van passed, and with it breaking the new bicycle. It was there that Oliver's mother; Sarah had seen all this happened from the yard and she had ran towards me asking if I was okay and that she had some plasters in the house.
Sniffing, I accepted the offer and she took me to the house on the hill where the house was and we went in and Sarah plastered me up.
As we walked in the kitchen, a brown haired boy, the same age as me was sitting and he looked at me.
'This is my son Oliver'
'You look like a boy' he pointed out.
'You look like a giant slug'
We laughed, and since then we were inseparable until the summer where we were 12 years of age and Oliver started his boarding school ad since then every summer we have spent together.
But this is year a bit different because both Oliver and I are finished with school now, and it's not like he's going to leave anytime soon then.
I stopped in the middle of the green field to breath in some air, the rain. Even though I was on the school's football team I hadn't been exercising too much lately and it showed now.
The rain made my clothes fell like they weighed a ton, and the raindrops felt like they whipped my face.
The thing with having neighbors when you live in the middle of freaking nowhere in the Scotland is that they can't really qualify as neighbors as they live at least twenty minutes away from you.
But I knew that running twenty minutes in the rain would be worth it to see Oliver and that's why I picked myself of and, started to run with new energy again.
I didn't mind running like most people did, I found it soothing and when I run I can just let go of all emotions I have and all I am focused is about is the run.
Today I found it a lot harder than usual focusing, but considering I had ran half the distance I couldn't stop.
I came to the big road, and the Wood's house wasn't far from here.
There was just so much I wanted to tell Oliver, so much that had changed this year but I also knew from experience that as soon as I saw him I forgot about that and it felt like he had been with me the whole year, it was just so natural being with him.
After what felt like a marathon, I saw the familiar house and I crossed the road and went up the hill. The house is a big traditional Scottish one, and difference to most people up here they don't own any animals. Not even a dog. This means also that their garden is huge and when I was small I always imagined is as a big fantasy labyrinth where I could get lost in for hours.
I continued to run to the porch and I knocked impatiently on the beech door, because after all I hadn't meet Oliver since last summer and it felt like an eternity since I last saw him.
Couldn't someone open the door already?
The door finally opened and it was Oliver who had opened. I wanted to scream – that was how happy I was but instead I walked forward and I put my arms around him and I hugged him until he almost chocked.
I stood back and goggled him that was when I realized that he had changed a lot since last.
He still had the short light brown hair and the chocolate brown eyes had the same twinkle. He was taller than when I last saw him, but the thing which hit me the most was that he was a lot more bulky than when I last saw him, and that is saying something considering he was already absurdly bulky before.
'Aren't I the popular guy?' He asked jokingly
'Oh very, I bet it'll be all over the Times tomorrow that you're back, I can see the headline "Scottish boy away for one year and with the whole town greeting and almost get chocked' I said and rolled my eyes.
'Hey I saw that' He pointed out lightly.
'I guess you'll just have to call 911 then' I said ironic.
'Well come in so you can call, because you hadn't been planning to stand outside the whole time did you?' He said and smiled as I walked into the hall and took of my black water resistant jacket that I put on the hanger.
Oliver took a quick glance at me as he closed the door.
'You're all wet' He pointed out and I looked down at my white socks, which were now brown, my blue jeans felt as if they might be made of stone, my grey jumper dripping with water.
'No shit Sherlock' I said and he gave another smile. 'Merlin, how I missed your sarcasm' he said, and I couldn't help but to smile back at him and I got the urge to hug him once more.
At this moment, Mrs. Wood, or Sarah as she insisted I call her came out from the living room and walked through the kitchen and to the hall where we were standing. Sarah, in her early fifties looked fresh as always with her shoulder length brown hair and very skinny body. I've always liked Oliver's parents because they had always been so nice and caring.
'Hailee, how nice it is to see you.' She said and then her eyes went to my clothes 'Oh child, you're all wet. Let me get you warm clothes, I think we still have some of your old clothes here. Oliver, why don't go and get Hailee some warm clothes?' She asked her son.
'Well, I did but of course Hails replied with a sarcastic comment so she never actually gave me an answer' he explained calmly.
'Well then you do it anyway. Where is your manners Oliver? You're just as bad as your father…I'll go and grab them' Sarah said.
I for fact knew that Oliver was the greatest gentleman I've ever met but I decided to keep my mouth shut about that point.
'Yeah honestly Oliver, where's the manners?' I asked teasingly as I pushed my elbow on his arm as I grinned and Sarah had gone to fetch the clothes for me.
'Have you eaten? Mom made lasagna for dinner and there's plenty left over, as you know she always makes too much. I'll just heat it up while you're changing'
That boarding school sure seems to teach some good manners because here I'm surprised if a guy even would hold up the door.
'I love some' I replied as I felt my stomach felt like it had been twisted and turned, or perhaps that is what it always feels like because I eat like a horse but I still manage to be hungry all the time. Perhaps I'm just a freak of nature or something like that.
We moved towards the kitchen, which was quite a small room and had a round table in the middle. Sarah came back; she was carrying clothes in her hands.
Pink clothes
I don't wear pink, ever. I'm against anything thing girly and always have been and always will. It got worse as I saw that on the t-shirt were a couple of girls, with the text 'Spice Girls'.
Holy shit.
I'm going to sink through the floor right now and die.
'Hailee, I'm sorry but all I could find was Oliver's cousin clothes' she said and in despair, I nodded my head slowly.
I could her Oliver's loud laugher behind me.
'This…is…not…funny' I said very frustrated. But Oliver, still laughing shook his head 'Oh yes, it is. OH look, 'lee it comes with matching pants as well' Said Oliver, almost out of air after laughing.
'Thank you Sarah' I said as she had walked towards me and gave me the clothes, because I realized there was only two choices here – either be soaking wet or look ridiculous
Sadly, I'm one of the few that would pick to look ridiculous
In disbelief, I walked back to the hall and turned right to where the big toilet was and, rather reluctantly I changed from my jeans and jumper into the pink Spice Girls t-shirt and hot pink lounge pants.
Do I need to point out once again that I don't wear pink?
This was like a big nightmare, I sighed as I shrugged my shoulders.
It was only Oliver and his parents, why did I care what I wore? I had never done that before.
I walked out the bathroom and back to the kitchen again, where Oliver's dad had also joined as he sat on a chair around the table, Oliver's dad was a man of few words but that's why I liked him so much too, because when he did say something it was thought out and intelligent, his hair was more grey than I last saw him and he had a very slim figure too. They were sitting around the table with one empty chair that had a plate with lasagna that smelt delicious.
Oliver looked at me and tried to suppress a big grin.
'Oh just shut it' I said pretending to be annoyed as I sat down and started to eat like I had never eaten before.
We sat up the in the evening around the table and just chatted. I didn't realize that it was soon midnight until Sarah and Tom stood up from the chairs.
'I think we should leave these youngsters now' said Sarah in a light voice.
'Good Night' I said as they left the room, leaving me alone with Oliver.
Oliver and I continued talking sitting around the dinner table. One of the amazing things with Oliver is that we could just talk and talk and I always get totally lost and forget the time and place. It wasn't until 2 am that I realized I should probably ask if I could stay over.
'Oli, can I sleep over?' I asked. I knew that he hated that nickname, so he made a sour face at me but it was soon gone.
'Of course, you know you don't need to ask. I'll just go and fetch the bedclothes' He said and walked out of the kitchen to get the bed sheets.
I decided to actually make some use of myself so I waked to the sink, placed my hand on one of the tap handles and started to wash the plate and cutlery by hand in the hot water.
It felt weird doing it by hand, I had gotten so used to the machines but the Wood's had never owned one, and I had never pointed it out. They were the kind of people that did things traditional and they didn't care about the modern devices, which I respected them for, I had always felt that people were getting to lazy nowadays and it be easier if people wouldn't invent all of these new technology stuff because then the world wouldn't be so materialistic.
I put the dish back in the cupboard and then looked out the windows to the dark night.
I couldn't picture myself anywhere else expects here in the Scotland. Everything was so calm and relaxing, there was never any traffic or any cramming on the streets.
It did occasionally get boring, but I had always been good at coming up with things to do.
But then it was of course the thing of everyone knowing everyone's business that I found annoying, but of course since there wasn't much to do here most people spent their time gossiping about what other people did.
No matter what you did, nothing was private and that was a pain in the arse.
Boredom hit me and I decided to walk to Oliver's room to see if he was there.
I walked the familiar path through the kitchen to the living room and in to Oliver's room.
My eyes went across the room. It hadn't changed much since last time I have been here.
It was a big room; walls were in a dark blue colour. Furthest away from me was a double bed, a scarf in gold and with the words 'GRYFFINDOR' spelt over, hanged over the bed. I had no clue what Gryffindor was, the only thing I knew was that it wasn't a sport team, I was way into sport to think that it was a team.
I shrugged my shoulders; it was probably a school thing or something I figured.
On the right side of the room there was a wardrobe, and a desk and a door. The door I had never opened and I had no clue what was behind it. I just knew it was locked and I wasn't allowed open it. There are other rooms like that in this house where guests weren't allowed. I had once tried to open one of the rooms when I was small but Oliver had caught me doing it.
He had started to scream at me, I had never felt as ashamed as I did then.
One the left side there was shelves and a mirror, as I looked my gaze stopped to see the reflection of the tall girl, tanned skin, short pixie style hair in a dark ash brown colour and lean figure after all my training looking back.
I heard someone's steps and I turned around to see Oliver, carrying the bedclothes in his arms.
'You'll sleep in my bed' He directed in a defensive tone, because he knew I would protest against this.
'And where will you sleep?' I asked calmly, because I didn't want to create havoc yet.
'On the couch' He answered matter-of-factly
'No' I said firmly and preparing myself for a long debate
'No?' He asked in what I could distinguish as a played on confused voice.
'I'm sleeping on the couch' I said unconsciously placing my hands on my hips.
'No I am' He said determined, and I was wondering if this would ever go anywhere with two stubborn donkeys like us.
'We can both sleep in your bed, its big enough' I said and unwilling gave up the argument with a diplomatic solution. Besides, it wasn't the first time we had slept together in the same bed.
'If that will get you to shut up' He said, grinning because he knew he had won. 'You want to borrow a t-shirt to sleep in?' He asked and I nodded.
'How do I ever live without you?' I said in a played on damsel in distress voice
'Mystery, oh yes' he said in an absent voice as he had gone to put the bed clothes on the chair and was standing in front of his wardrobe and picked out a t-shirt which he threw at me. I caught it and held it up to see what t-shirt it was. It was in a navy blue colour and it was three women on it, with the text 'THE WEIRD SISTERS' I figured it was some popular band I didn't know about. I wasn't much of a music person.
Without me realizing, Oliver had walked out of the room.
It was no doubt that it was to let me changed so I quickly as possible got out of the horror clothes and quickly changed into the t-shirt.
'Done'
I said and Oliver walked in, as I ran to his big bed and jumped on to the bed and got under the cover, which was really warm and cozy. Out of manners, since Oliver had gone away when I changed I put the cover over my eyes as he changed into a t-shirt.
We didn't get much sleep, since we stayed up all night, talking about nothing really, but somehow I could just listen to his voice for hours. It was in the wee hours of the morning when I realized we had stayed up all night talking.
'So about that school you have been going to' I said
'What about it?' He asked as he yawned.
'Are there a lot of pretty girls there?' I asked tired
'Yes'
'So do you have a girlfriend?' I asked trying to make it sound in a casual tone.
'No' He said in a surprisingly clear voice to have stayed up all night.
'Yes even though there are many pretty girls' He said and smirked
'And you?' He asked
'Me what?' I asked
'Do you have a boyfriend?' He asked me
'Nope'
There was a bit of awkward silence hanging in the air. It was my turn to yawn, and I closed my eyes and felt asleep.
I woke up during the night; it took me a while before I realized that there wasn't that much big space between Oliver and me anymore. My head was resting on his shoulders. It was comfortable. My eyes closed and I soon drifted to sleep again.
*
The light shone in to the room. It was morning. I noticed my head leaning on something soft that smelled like mint. I realized my head was leaning on Oliver's shoulder, I quickly moved my head away. I looked at him and I saw that he was awake, looking up at the ceiling.
'Good morning' I said.
'Good morning' he replied. It occurred to me that Oliver might have been awake for a while but hadn't gone up because he was afraid it would wake me up.
'Do you want to eat now?' He asked me.
'Do birds fly?" I said rolling my eyes.
Even though the summer just started I know that it'll turn out to great one.
My whole body was full of joy. The kind of joy I only got when I was with Oliver.