"What you thinking about, Belle?" asked Fred, tucking a strand of carrot hair behind his ear as he looked at Isabella, finally noticing that she had been silent for the whole night. He smiled warmly at her and saw that she had a sad smile on her face as she gazed out the window in the Gryffindor Common Room. He winced and then patted her on the shoulder. "You okay? You're not thinking about your parent's divorce, are you?"
Isabella cringed at the word but she shook her head. "Naw," she said, grinning. "Just suffering from nostalgia."
George lifted up his head as Fred opened his mouth and said, "Nostalgia means home sickness." It was kind of freaky the way they did that but Isabella got used to it though sometimes she would get mad at them for doing that even though she didn't know why it bugged her. But then, four years and a half of friendship was too hard to break. Fred's mouth opened in a big O and George shook his head, muttering about his 'idiot brother'.
The portrait door burst open and an angry Oliver Wood burst in. There was nobody else in the common room except Lee, Isabella, Fred and George and Oliver felt he could rant. "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, FRED, GEORGE? FAITH'S 'RETIRING'" – He put blaming air quotations – "BECAUSE SHE BLOODY, STINKING FEELS THAT SHE'S HAD ENOUGH FRICKIN' QUIDDITCH!" Oliver's cries could be heard almost throughout Hogwarts, or at least that was what Isabella thought.
She rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag and started for the portrait.
Oliver eyed Isabella before saying superiorly, "Why not try out, Belle?" He said his name like it was poison and he wanted to spit it out as soon as possible. "After all, you do have many NIGHTLY Quidditch practices." He looked at the twins and Lee, continuously raising his eyebrow and hoping they would take the hint. They didn't and he mentally groaned.
"Shut up, Liver," said Isabella, using the nickname she created for him.
He eyed Isabella with distaste.
"Are you guys still having that stupid fight again?" Lee groaned, burying his face in his hands for a minute before walking out the portrait. But she could still hear him say, "Honestly, those twits, can't face their feelings like a man. All they do is fight, fight, fight, fight. God."
She was a little bit confused with what he said but dismissed it and focused on Oliver Wood.
"Anyway, what makes you think I won't try out?" asked Isabella, her hands on her hips.
Oliver looked mockingly thoughtful. "Hmm, I don't know," he said. "Maybe the fact that you suck?"
At that point, Isabella burst into tears from peer pressure. She dropped her hanging bag and ran out of the Gryffindor Common Room and didn't stop until she reached the lake. She had stopped crying by then but she was still sniffing as she found a comfortable spot leaning against a tree. She sighed as her arm rested on her knee and she just stared out at the lake, noticing how it glittered when sun shined on it. The water was a beautiful navy and blue was always Isabella's favorite colour.
She tilted her head back and just looked at the sky, with birds chirping annoying. She ran a finger through her hair and ran through things in her mind. She saw the time where Fred and George were on the team and started spending less and less time with her. Instead, they always hung out with their fellow teammates, Angelina, Alicia and Katie. Not that Isabella didn't like them. No, they were fine but what she didn't like that they took her best friends away. She was resentful towards them for some time before Fred noticed what was going on and apologized and they returned to being best friends.
Now, they were doing it again and Isabella finally knew the answer: Quidditch. She had to get on the team but that was almost impossible. She hated heights and always had a lurching feeling in her stomach when she looked down and the way she flew was disgraceful and could make any animal want to kill their mother if it stopped her. And then finally she saw that Oliver Wood was watching her and he had smirked at her superiorly and that had hit Isabella off and it resolved into a fight.
"Belle?" said an uncertain Scottish voice.
Isabella didn't want to deal with him right now. "Sod off," Isabella said, glaring at the lake.
"Belle, I'm sorry," Oliver moved to sit beside Isabella, hoping he wouldn't just push him off. She didn't but she sat stonily and moved her shoulder so that no part of her body would touch his. He ran a finger through his shaggy brown hair and he turned his head to look at Isabella, nearly staring at the sight. He smiled, remembering the first time he and she had met. She was still a kid back then, with shoulder-length black hair that wasn't really shoulder-length because it went down to her back and she had glasses. She still had them, though but now her hair was really shoulder-length. She had gotten new glasses over the summer and now looked more sophisticated.
She wasn't pretty in a gorgeous kind of way. She was normal-looking and you could tell that personality was the only thing that could get her a date but Oliver didn't feel that way. He thought she looked pretty in a next door girl kind of way and he liked her lots as a friend because she was nice, not patronizing and definitely not too considerate. Oliver hated too considerate girls; they made him feel like he couldn't take care of himself.
"Stop staring at me," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I'm not staring you!" cried Oliver in indignation. "I'm merely observing."
She gave an unladylike snort. She crossed her arms across her chest and said, "Right and I know for a certain fact that that's boy talk 'I'm undressing you with my eyes'.
"Don't flatter yourself," Oliver quirked an eyebrow and met Isabella's eyes challengingly.
"Oh?" she said, raising an eyebrow in turn.
Oliver sighed and raked a hand through his hair, knowing that he would have to let Isabella win or else he would have to risk another fight. "No," he said, smiling slightly then he grabbed Isabella's chin and pushed it up, so that her wide eyes were staring right into Oliver's twinkling ones. "Can we stop the fight, please?" asked Oliver.
Isabella grinned and hugged him.
"What an Oliver thing for you to say."
Oliver hugged back tightly, swaying slightly as her chest pressed against his. He chuckled softly into her ear, making her shiver slightly and shift her chin. They held each other for a long moment and when Oliver pulled back, Isabella was smiling and she reached out a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. She nodded approvingly and said when he looked at her questioningly, "You're going to have to look way better if you're going to be my best friend?"
"Best friend?" Oliver was shocked but it didn't show and he quickly teased, "Are you sure, Belle? Don't want to get the twins jealous."
Isabella grinned and swiftly tried to throw an arm around his shoulder, though she grabbed him by his ribs. She blushed crimson and quickly removed her hand. "You can be my third best friend, then, Oliver or should I say Ollie?" She smirked as she uttered the unfortunate nickname.
Oliver glared at her and muttered, "You know I hate that bloody nickname."
She continued smirking and wagged a finger at him. "Uh uh uh, no swearing from ickle Ollie!"
He laughed and casually slipped his hand into hers in a way of friendly gesture and they swung their hands hard, giggling as a student had to bend backwards and fall onto the grass to avoid the deathly joined hands. Of course they helped him out but the student glared at their back as they continued, both sporting a happy smile.
When Fred saw Isabella and Oliver's hands intertwined, he grinned and said cheekily, "Finally gotten together now, have you?"
Isabella glared at him and tore her hand away from Oliver's to punch Fred in the shoulder.
Fred winced slightly but resumed his cheeky self. He looked up at Oliver and winked, "Might want to keep your girlfriend in line there, mate."
Oliver glared hotly at Fred and raised his fist, threatening Fred to say more.
"Aah, resorting to violence when one mate insults his girlfriend." said Fred, nodding knowingly as he tried to hide his growing smile. He waved a hand at Oliver's puzzled face and playfully mistook it as an apologetic look. "Typical, Oliver so don't bother apologizing. It's fine."
"FRED!" hollered Isabella and she stepped forward to slap him hard and kick his shin.
Fred cringed and his hand immediately went to his cheek. "Fine, spoilsport," he muttered and he limped to the portrait. But once he was outside, he shouted for his twin and whispered excitedly, "Did you hear? Oliver and Belle are together!" His twin had gasped and then grinned.
"Always knew." George said happily, not noticing that Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil that were standing nearby and had caught their conversation.