Petrified
Oliver walked down the fifth-floor corridor, exhausted but pleased from Quidditch practice. The Cup is ours this year, he thought happily to himself. He climbed a flight of stairs (stepping over the trick step), stepped through a door that was pretending to be a blank stretch of wall, and emerged out unto the sixth-floor. He began striding down the corridor, eager to get back to Gryffindor tower and relax for a bit, but stopped halfway. He turned around, frowning, and slowly walked to the door of the girl's bathroom, where he heard quiet crying. Cautiously, he pushed the door open.
"Alicia?" he asked as he stepped inside and found Alicia Spinnet sitting against the row of sinks, crying. She looked up, startled, at the sound of her name, and immediately began to blush.
"Oh, hey," she said quietly, trying to regain her composure. "What are you doing, um, in the girl's bathroom?"
"I heard someone crying in here," he replied, sitting next to her.
"It must've been Moaning Myrtle, she's always crying," Alicia said defensively. Oliver grinned at his Chaser, causing her to look away and blush even more.
"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is on the second floor, though," he said, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Well, um, it's probably..." she started to say, but trailed off uncertainly.
"Why are you crying, Alicia?" Oliver asked quietly, looking at her as she avoided his gaze.
"It's nothing, I'm fine," she replied, her lower lip starting to tremble involuntarily. Oliver kept looking at her, until she started to cry once more. He then placed an arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly, saying things like "It's okay, it's all going to be fine..."
After a few minutes, Alicia sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Sorry, Oliver, I just...I can't..."
"Can't what?"
She stifled a sob. "I'm a Mudblood, Oliver!"
"No," he replied calmly. Alicia looked at him questioningly.
"What?" she said.
"I said no, you're not a Mudblood. You are one of the bravest, strongest, toughest witches I've ever met, and your blood has nothing to do with it," Oliver replied firmly, looking her hard in the eye.
Alicia looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I -"
"Yes. Don't you dare underestimate yourself, and that's an order, Spinnet," Oliver said. She smiled and looked up at him.
"Aye aye, Captain," she said, giving him a watery smile. They both stood.
"Come on, I'll take on any Heir of Slytherin that even tries to get you," Oliver said, taking Alicia's hand and walking out of the bathroom. They walked up to the seventh floor, stopping outside the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked, bored.
Alicia turned to Oliver and gave him a large hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Oliver,"
Now it was Oliver's turn to blush, his ears turning rather pink. "No problem," he grinned.
The Fat Lady sighed. "Either give me the password or go somewhere else to snog!"
It was hard to say whether Oliver or Alicia was blushing more.
Author's Note: Okay, so I know that the Fat Lady probably wouldn't run around telling students to snog each other, but I figured it'd be a cute ending. And I should also mention that this was written in a bit of a hurry, so please forgive the, er...shoddy work. Comments and critique would be nice, s'il vous plait! And merci beaucoup for reading! :)
