I just want to say sorry for my English – I'm from Sweden so my English isn't perfect, but I'm trying my best.
I'm trying to follow the original story as much as possible, but I did change Roger Davis age – He's in 5th grade instead of 4th. It just works better for the story – I say sorry to all the people who hate when you change ages etc. in FanFiction.
I also changed the day of September 1st – I know it's on a Tuesday, but I changed it to a Sunday so they would start on a Monday.
I was going to be late for class. How did this happen! I'm never late! And this is the second day of school. I was going to have Studies of Ancient Runes and Professor Bathsheda Babbling do not appreciate when you're late. I jog through the corridor when something suddenly bump in to me. Out of nowhere someone comes and runs in to me.
"Sorry, I didn't see you coming" he says. It's Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. We had won the last match against them, but it wasn't fair, they didn't have a seeker. Davis really have some problems with Wood, so he asked me to catch the snitch when they'd gotten enough points for Gryffindor losing the match – and the Quidditch cup. I can't believe Davis rather wants Flint to win than Wood… Maybe Wood ran in to him when he was late for a lesson as well…
"Watch where you're going, you idiot! Some of us actually have to be somewhere!" I say angrily, I guess I really don't like being late.
"Sorry..." he starts to say, but I'm already on my way. 2 minutes left. I arrive at the classroom 30 seconds before we start and I sit down just before the teacher comes in.
"Good morning class, today we're going to work with Chapter 5: Eihwaz, which you all know means defense, please turn the page to 184." Our teacher said, and we all started. It was a very boring lesson and when it was finally over I rushed out. I didn't want to be late again. The next class I have is Transfiguration and it's shared with the Gryffindors. I guess I have to say sorry to Oliver Wood if he's there. I didn't really know him; I had only seen him in the Quidditch matches. Being a seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team made you notice the other Quidditch players, especially the captains. When I arrive at the classroom I stand outside waiting for him. If I would go in and take a seat now it would be awkward to rise up and go and talk to him when he arrived, it's better standing and waiting for him. I wait until 3 minutes before we begin. There's not many places left to sit. This is two lessons in a row now that Oliver Wood has made me lose the good spots. Luckily there was one empty table left; if it's possible I prefer having my own space.
The teacher started the lesson; we were supposed to practice the vanishing-spell again, but this time on living creatures. She starts to explain how we were supposed to cast the spell, when suddenly the door opens and Oliver Wood steps in. He looks really embarrassed.
"I'm sorry for being late, Professor McGonagall" he says with a low voice.
"Just get seated Mr. Wood, as quiet as possible" The last thing was said with venom in her voice. Wood looks around; there are not many places left. He starts walking back in the classroom… and stops at my table.
"Can I sit here?" He asks quietly. I was shocked that he wanted to sit with me, even more shocked that he actually asked. I guess there still are a few gentlemen left here in the world.
"Sure, have a seat" I answered quietly. He sits down very quietly; he actually succeeds in moving the chair in and out.
"You're Ruby Smith, right?" He whispers.
"Yeah, and you're Oliver Wood" I whisper back. He gives me a small smile and nods.
McGonagall continues explaining what to do and then says: "Get in pairs of two and start practicing the spell."
"Shall we pair?" Wood asks.
"Sure, it's so annoying to have to move in the middle of a lesson" I say. I then realize that sounded kind of mean and quickly add "Not that I don't want to pair with you otherwise, it's just we don't know each other very well… Not that it matters, I just mean that… I suck at talking I should shut up now… Sorry" I think I'm going to die. I will die. Why do I talk to people? He probably thinks I'm an idiot. Oh my god I called him an idiot and haven't said sorry yet! How could I've forgot that?!
"It's okay, I know what you meant" he said with a smile. Holy shit this guy is so nice. Maybe he's sick or something. Luckily I don't say that out loud.
"Thanks. By the way… I'm really sorry for calling you an idiot before… I was just stressed because I was going to be late for my lesson, and I know that is not a good excuse, but I am really, really sorry!" I say. I can't believe the only thing I've said to this guy is how sorry I am.
"Merlin, that's in the past, I almost didn't remember it. And I did deserve to be called an idiot; I really should've watched where I was going." He says, and he really sounds like he means it.
I was just going to say something when professor McGonagall comes over and says: "So… How is the spell going here? I thought it was a vanishing-spell, not a talk-as-much-as-possible-spell."
"Sorry professor" Both I and Wood mumbles. Professor McGonagall looks at us with a suspicious look and then leaves.
"So, let's start with the spell then" I say, going into business mode.
"Yeah… erm… well this is kind of awkward… I have no idea what to do…" He said, looking embarrassed.
"Oh, well you missed the beginning, I can fill you in" I said with a smile.
"No, I meant… I'm not very good in this subject… McGonagall has just let me pass because she doesn't want her captain to fail, so I really have no bloody idea what to do" He looked embarrassed. I guess most people don't really tell you they have problem in school the first time you talk to each other…
"Oh… That's probably not true, no offence, but McGonagall don't give people E:s unless they deserve it. I'll try explaining as much as possible. The spell makes the object invisible for a short time. You see, this spell isn't a very complex spell, but it's not just saying the words and waving your wand, you need to concentrate on the spell. Do you remember last year when we did the vanishing spell? You just have to do the exact same thing, just try to concentrate a little bit more. Like this." I say. I do the spell and succeed on the first try, in front of me now stand an invisible bird instead of the brown hawk. Transfiguration is one of my best subjects, so this wasn't a surprise.
"Neat. That was really cool! Can I try?" Wood says, and he really sounds like he meant it.
"Of course! But remember to really concentrate on the spell." I say. I really hope he succeeds!
Wood says the words perfectly and waves the wand exactly right, but even though it looks like he did everything right he didn't succeed fully, the hawk becomes almost invisible, but more like a chameleon than invisible. For being someone who has a problem with Transfiguration this was amazing.
"That was really good!" I exclaim. Wood looks happy for his process.
"That's the best I've ever done on a first try of a spell!" He says in both amazement and happiness.
"I told you it wasn't that hard! As long as you concentrate only on the spell there's no problem!" I say with a smile. The rest of the lesson we continue practicing it, and after a while Wood succeeds.
"Wow! I can't believe I did it! I always get extra homework to practice the spells, and well… I guess it's not really my top priority you know… with being the Quidditch Captain." He says embarrassed. I had accidently seen his notepad, and it was full of Quidditch plays.
"Yeah, I understand. Davis is going to have a hard time this year having to do both OWLs and being Quidditch Captain. You did really well last year though!" I say the last thing with a smile. Wood doesn't look too happy about that.
"Yeah, though Slytherin still won the cup, thanks to you beating the crap out of us in the end" he says, the frustration very noticeable in his voice. I feel bad for not catching the snitch earlier, it was unfair to Wood.
"Yeah… I'm sorry for that, it was really unfortunate that your seeker was injured; I bet you would've won otherwise." I say, trying to cheer him up. At that moment McGonagall comes from behind of us and say with a cold tone: "Quidditch has nothing to do with invisibility; I actually think it would be rather boring to watch an invisible Quidditch game – so why are you not practicing the spell?"
"Actually, we have already mastered it; we were just taking a break. It's actually kind of exhausting to concentrate so much." I say, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
"Oh, have you? Can you two show me then?" She says, sounding both cold and a little surprised. I do the spell perfectly. McGonagall gives me an approving look, but doesn't seem too surprised – being a star student probably leads to that. Wood looks a bit nervous.
"Just concentrate" I say quietly with a smile. Wood concentrates and does everything perfect; the bird in front of him is impossible to see. McGonagall looks very surprised.
"Ten points to Gryffindor and ten points to Ravenclaw. That was rather extraordinary Mr Wood; if you continue like this you will be as good as Miss Smith and get an O. Miss Smith seems to have a good influence on you. Maybe you should spend more time with her Mr Wood?" McGonagall says, and then walks away. I feel embarrassed about her compliment and that she thought we should spend more time with each other. Wood also looks a little embarrassed, but also happy for succeeding with the spell. Wood was just going to say something when the class ended.
"So what class do you have now? I have a free period." I say to him, starting to pack my things. Wood also packed his things.
"I have Herbology now, and after Lunch I have Potions" Wood says.
"I also have Potions after Lunch! We should check our schedules later and see what lessons we have together" I say with a smile. "But I guess you should rush for class so you won't be late again." I continue.
"You're right, I shouldn't be late. Especially not when you won't be there to fill me in" he says and wiggles his eyebrows. I give him a big smile. Then he takes his things and start jogging to the door. McGonagall didn't give us any homework this day because there were so many people having problem with the spell. I had to finish the chapter Eihwaz for Ancient Runes though, but hopefully I would finish it this free period.
After working a while with my Ancient Runes I notice it's time for Lunch. I was almost finished and I consider skipping lunch but I realize that Davis would kill me if he found out; he wanted his players to be in perfect health. I go down to lunch and see Davis. He's in fifth grade, but just because he was younger didn't mean he had a problem about bossing his players around.
"Hey Davis" I say and sit down beside him. I reach over to take some bread and jam but Davis stop me and say: "Are you really going to eat that? Shouldn't you eat like a salad or something healthier?" To another person something like that would be really rude, but I know that he just wants his team to be at its best.
"I'm gonna eat this sandwich and there's nothing you can do to stop me" I answer. Just because he wants me to eat healthy doesn't mean I will. Davis shrugs and starts talking to his friends next to him. I tap on his shoulder and he looks at me. I say: "Have you seen Penelope? I haven't seen her all day."
"She was just gonna go passed the library before coming here. I bet she'll be here any minute" Davis answer, and at that exact moment Penelope steps in. I wave to her and she sits down beside me.
"Hey, Penelope! How's the first real day of school?" I say with a smile.
"God! It's terrible! I've got a shit-load of homework already!" She says with a huge sigh.
"Watch your language! Us muggleborns do have a lot worse language than the pure-bloods, don't we?" I say to her with a smile. "The question is, what do the half-bloods have? Are their language worse or better than our?" I continue.
"I think it's a mix between the muggleborns and pure-bloods. I mean there's a reason for them to be called half-bloods, and that obviously come from them having half of our swears and half of the pure bloods." Penelope said. I had just taken a bit of my sandwich and choked because I started laughing.
"Are you OK? You know, you don't have to die just because I'm a hilarious person" she says with a smile.
"I'm fine" I say and clear my throat "You know, it's not nice to tell a joke when someone is eating".
"Sorry" she says and laughs. Then she becomes serious again and says: "There's something I need to tell you later, when we're alone". I nod in understanding. I wonder what she's going to say but I don't have time to ask, she would probably not say anything here anyways, because I have to go to Potions.
"We'll talk later. By the way, congratulations to becoming prefect, I know you love to tell people what to do" I say with a smile and a wink. Penelope laughs back and also starts to walk to her lesson.
This time I'm one of the first to arrive to the classroom. I take a seat in the middle of the class, in professor Snape's lessons it's best to not stick out. People start coming in and taking their seats. 3 minutes before the class start Wood comes in and takes a seat beside me.
"It's okay if I sit here right? It would be awesome to have your help in this subject too" He says with a smile. I smile back and say: "Yeah of course. I will try helping you with Potions, but no offence… you can't be that bad in this? You must've gotten an O to get in here, and you're definitely not one of Snape's favorites."
"Well, I guess potion isn't my worst subject" he starts, I snort, and he continues "but it's always nice to get help from someone"
"I'm actually not very good with Potions. I prefer spells more than boiling stuff. I might actually need your help in this subject" I say with a smile. Wood looks at me disbelieving.
"I highly doubt that, but I don't mind helping you, especially not after what you did for me in Transfiguration" He says. I was just about to answer when Snape steps in. I immediately turn forward and shut up.
"Today we're going to do the Draught of the Living Dead." He says. I gasp; the Draught of the Living Dead is really hard to do, I can't believe that's what we're going to start with. Wood also look a little shocked. Snape continues: "The instructions is at page 493"
I open my book and read what to do. It's just as complex as I remembered. I started to get the equipment and then began with step one.
"I can't believe Snape is making us do this the first day" Wood whispers. He was good, he was really good. He was almost finished with the first step, and I had barely started. Wood really was an unpretentious guy.
"I know, it's crazy…" I started. Then I continued "You're really modest, Wood. You're good at this… like… really good. You do know that right?" I looked up at him. He looked really embarrassed.
"I guess I get lucky sometime…" He started. I interrupted him "You're amazing! You're definitely the best in this class, probably in the whole school! Don't be so modest, just accept it!" I said, and I guess I sounded a little pissed or something, because he stared at me in a very weird way. "Sorry" I said. "I didn't mean to sound that pissed."
"No you didn't sound pissed" he said. "And I guess Potions is my best subject, so I'll try not to be so modest." He said 'modest' with a smile. While we had talking he had been able to do the first three steps perfectly, I was just starting with number two. I guess some guys actually are good at multitasking.
The rest of the lesson continued like always, we didn't say much except for things like 'can you pass me that' or 'is it best to crush them or cut them' etc. At the end of the lesson my potion was kind of good – at least E level material, whereas Woods was really Outstanding. We both handed it in to Snape and then went out. When we came outside I said: "Who knew the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Oliver Wood, would be so good at Potions. Maybe you should be a Potions master instead of a professional Quidditch Player?"
"No way! Who would choose Potions over Quidditch?" he said. I nodded in agreement.
"By the way… how did you know I wanted to be a professional Quidditch player?" he continued with a smile.
"Well… no offence Wood… but I think everyone in the school knows it, it's kind of obvious" I answered with a smile.
"Oh... yeah… that's probably true." He said with a small smile. "What about you? What will you work with when you finish school? Do you also want to be a professional Quidditch player?" he asks.
"I don't know… I mean, a professional Quidditch player would be awesome, but well… it doesn't really have a future, and… I don't think I'm good enough... I mean… there are a lot of people that wants to be a professional Quidditch player, and it's just too much competition for me" I say. First day we actually talk to each other and I just tell him all my plans for my life. That's not weird at all.
"By the way, I just need to ask you something. Why didn't you sit with Percy Weasley or your other Gryffindor friends at Transfiguration?" I ask.
"Erm…because Percy is a total nerd… not nerdy like you! I mean… you're not a nerd, but like, you're a Ravenclaw so you are kind of nerdy, but in a good way… yeah… anyways… I don't really spend time with the other Gryffindors in my class. I guess I spend most of my time plotting Quidditch plays… or practicing with the team… or yelling at the team…" he says and he looks really embarrassed for calling me a nerd.
"Yeah, Percy seems kind of boring… I don't really hang with my Ravenclaw classmates either. Except for Penelope Clearwater in 5th grade I only hang with the team." I say, so he wouldn't feel so bad.
"Penelope Clearwater?! You're friends with her?!" He says in surprise. I look at him weirdly and answer: "Yeah… what is wrong with her?"
"No, no, no! Nothing is wrong with her, it's just… don't you know she's dating Percy?" he says.
"WHAT?!" I scream. Wood looks a bit shocked. "Sorry for screaming like that" I add.
"I guess you didn't know… well… this is awkward… you know… I wasn't supposed to tell anyone… I accidently saw him kissing her yesterday after the feast and promised not to tell anyone…" Wood say.
"He kissed her?!" I exclaim. "How can she not have told me this?!" I add in shock.
"I'm sorry, Wood. I need to go talk to her. It's a girl thing. See you later" I say and run away. I realize that was really rude, but I guess he'll have to get used to it if he wants to sit with me in class. I arrive to the Ravenclaw common room. I immediately spotted Penelope sitting at a table and studying. I walked over to her and said: "We need to talk. Now." I take her arm and take her to a silent corner.
"You kissed Percy Weasley?!" I whisper to her, still in shock.
"How did you know that?!" She says, then continues "And yes… That was what I was going to tell you before… It's amazing. We met last year… I was sitting late in the library, and I realized I didn't have much time until curfew. I saw Percy sitting in the library, and asked if he could escort me to the Ravenclaw common room. He of course said yes, and on the way back we started talking. We met a few more times that year and we sort of… became a couple... We wrote to each other during the summer… Oh Ruby, he's amazing! And he's a great kisser…"
"Wow! Too much information! And if you've been together all summer, how come you didn't tell me earlier?!" I say.
"I'm sorry, it was just… I didn't know if it would survive the summer, but it did… and he's not like everyone think he is… he's fantastic… by the way, how did you find out about this anyways?" she answers, the first part a little love sick.
"Oh… yeah… Oliver Wood told me…" I say, a little embarrassed.
"Since when do you talk to Oliver Wood?!" She says in shock.
"Oh… well… we have a few classes together, so we worked together today… and then we started talking about… stuff… and then I mentioned you were my friend and he just got shocked because well… he didn't think I were someone who were friends with Percy's girlfriends." I tell her.
"Ooooooh… Looks like I'm not the only one who's having a boyfriend" she says with a teasing voice.
"Omg Penelope! We've known each other for 1 day! You read too many love-stories." I tell her.
"1 day is a lot of time" She says with a smile. I roll my eyes, but give her a smile back.
"We need to study now Penelope, especially you. I know how the first day of school was in fifth grade. And if you want to date Percy Weasley you need to impress him with Outstanding grades." I tell her with a teasing smile and walk away. Penelope and Percy? The world has gone crazy.