Alicia Spinnet was ready to tear her hair out—every single long yellow-blonde strand was ready to be ripped from her scalp. Or maybe she would use her own broomstick to give herself a lobotomy. Either way, the action would be sure to relieve some of the pain she was currently suffering under the reign of Oliver Alexander Wood.
To the casual observer, it would simply appear that a slightly overzealous quidditch captain was giving outside advice to one of his chasers in their common room. Said chaser was apparently listening complacently, not too perturbed that she had been interrupted in her conversation with a new love interest, Bryce Chambers. Inside, Alicia was screaming. She had needed that brief moment with Bryce. Her day had been terrible: First, being thrown out of bed by none other than Wood himself for early quidditch practice; Second, her older brother had written her a letter stating that he would not be able to come home for Christmas this year; Third, it had rained, ruining her stick straight blonde hair that she had combed to perfection earlier in the day; And fourth...fourth, it was Friday the 13th, which could never bee good for anyone. And now, Oliver was interrogating her about her daily practice routine, offering several 'tips' which Alicia found unbelievably irrelevant, and what was worse, he seemed to be repeating himself as often as possible. He probably wanted to continue her miserable day by making her speak to him as much as possible. Alicia wanted very desperately to stab her wand straight into his bright chocolate brown eyes, shining from the excitement of the only thing that could possible animate him: quidditch.
"Does that make sense, Spinnet?" he asked energetically.
Alicia blinked. "Oliver, it made sense the first five times you went over it. That's why I've been sitting here nodding."
She said this in a very calm, collected manner. Angelina had once remarked in frustration that her two best friends were polar opposites: Katie, who let everyone know how she was feeling the exact moment that she felt it, and Alicia, who calm accepted everything that was frustrating her until she reached her carrying capacity and erupted. There was never any warning when this eruption would occur. There were never signs of tension until you were in the middle of the storm. When and where was even a mystery to Alicia herself. This evening, however, she could tell that Oliver was definitely pushing the envelope and it would only be a short while before he was erupted upon. I can't believe I used to fancy him, she thought dully, watching his gorgeous eyes and perfectly sculpted face animate over a simple throwing technique. Still bloody fantastic looking, though. And…not so horrible to listen to when you're not at the end of a really unlucky day. Bloody hell, what am I doing? Rationalizing for him?
"Well I just want to make sure you've got this down," he reinforced. "You're going to be our secret weapon."
"Can I go now?" she asked evenly.
"Sure. Just…um…where do you live?"
"Excuse me?"
Oliver shifted, searching for words. Alicia stared at him. "I just—ah—think that it's important, as captain, to catalog where my team members are from. It gives me…background information so that I know how to er—properly…motivate them."
Alicia raised an eyebrow. He continued on quickly.
"Well, for example, Harry's from Surrey. You know, the garden of England. So he probably responds to aesthetic stimulants. That's why I try to have someone…ah…bring him flowers before he plays. Calms him down, you know."
"I've never seen anyone bring Harry flowers," Alicia said blankly.
"Right…"
"I'm from Wales," she said quickly, trying to cut Oliver off before he thought of anything else to say. "And if you're done wasting my time, I'm going to go back and talk with Bryce some more."
Her words were irritated, but her voice conveyed nothing. Maybe this was why Oliver felt encouraged to continue speaking.
"I'm done. Just one more question…"
And the volcano that was Alicia Spinnet exploded.
"WHAT IS IT, OLIVER??" she yelled, standing up so that all heads in the common room turned toward her. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE TO SAY TO ME?! AS IF DRILLING ME THIS MORNING, AGAIN AT BREAKFAST, TWICE AT LUNCH, FOUR TIMES AT DINNER, AND ONCE AGAIN NOW WASN'T ENOUGH PROOF AND REINFORCEMENT FOR YOU TO COMPREHEND THAT I UNDERSTAND THE BLOODY PLAY! OKAY?! I GET IT! OR DO YOU WANT TO KNOW EVEN MORE IRRELEVANT DETAILS ABOUT MY LIFE?! SHOULD I TELL YOU WHERE I WAS BORN, MY FAVORITE COLOR, THE PAIR OF JEANS THAT I OWN THAT I LIKE THE MOST?? WHAT, OLIVER? WHAT THE HELL MORE DO YOU WANT?"
Some people stared. Others laughed. Bryce Chambers looked frightened and muttered something about only being interested in girls that could control their temper. He left, rather frightened, and retreated up the stairs to the dorms. Oliver was dumbfounded.
"Merlin, I'm sorry, Alicia, I just—"
Alicia sighed, waving her hand to cut him off. She sat back down calmly, chest still slightly heaving from her outburst. She was back to feeling mellow again.
"No, forget it, Oliver, I'm sorry. I've just had a really, really awful day is all."
"It is Friday the 13th," he commented.
"Yeah, I know."
There was an awkward silence. Alicia was about to make some excuse to dash off to bed when Oliver spoke again.
"Listen, Alicia…" He spoke much more evenly and relaxed now. "I'm just going to be honest about this. I don't care where you're from because I want to help motivate you to do better—I'm sure you figured that out."
She nodded apologetically.
"Er, yeah. Anyway, I want to know more about you because…well, I'm kind of interested in you. Not in the 'You'd be Fascinating to Learn About in an Educational Light' way, but in the 'You'd Be Amazing to Date' way…like the more than friends way. If we're even friends to start with. I know I'm kind of an ass…" Oliver stopped his bumbling and looked up at her hopefully. Alicia's jaw was dropped. He rushed on.
"I'm sorry I scared away your boyfriend," he said quickly. "you can tell him I provoked you and uh—forget I said anything. It was stupid."
"Bryce isn't my boyfriend!" Alicia blurted quickly and a little more willingly than she would have given herself credit for. "I'm single."
Oliver nodded slowly, not seeming exactly sure whether this was a good sign or not. She mentally kicked herself.
"Anyway, if you don't mind…I would like to know where you were born, and your favorite color, and what pair of jeans you like to wear the most…and anything else about yourself that you decide you wouldn't mind telling me because I think you're—well—amazing. And..er…really worth getting to know. And I don't know about that other lad, but I enjoyed that little outburst. Not so much that it was directed at me, but…"
"Oliver," Alicia interrupted, smiling. "I'll tell you anything you want to know. And I want to know about you, too. But could you—you know, just right now—stop rambling and…kiss me, maybe?"
"…"
About ten minutes later, Alicia breathlessly said, "I don't think you've ever moved that fast before."
He laughed. "Yes, I believe no one ever has. Not such a horrible Friday the 13th after all, I'm hoping?"
"No! No, not at all. One of my luckiest."