Wood and Stone
"Finders… Seekers"
"I want everyone down to the pitch in ten minutes!" Oliver's voice boomed and echoed through the dormitory. It was nearly seven in the morning, the sun was just rising. Through out the dorms, people could be heard griping and groaning. Satisfied, Oliver headed out to the front step of the building and apparated straight into the locker room of the Quidditch pitch.
Fifteen minutes later, Oliver was staring in disbelief at the poor turn out to the field. He looked around, and found just as many first string players were missing as the reserves. George, Alicia, and Angelina stood leaning against one another in human triangle to stay on their feet. David, the reserve chaser, was resting on the damp and dewy grass. Shawn and Jeff, the other reserve chasers, were sword fighting with their broom handles. Toby, the other reserve beater, was asleep standing up on his two feet and snoring.
"Where in the hell are my seekers? Where is the rest of my team?" Oliver shouted loudly. Alicia looked at him scornfully for yelling so early in the morning. "You know what? I don't care! There will be hell to pay when those lazy bums show up! All of you will run the course until they arrive, so if you know a way of summoning them, I suggest you do it."
"That's not fair!" The team exclaimed but Oliver shook his head. "They are at…"
"I don't want to hear it," Oliver said. He flicked his wand. "Obsticlous Asperities. Now go!"
A complicated obstacle course appeared and the players mounted their brooms swearing and took off to run the course. From seven until nine thirty, they ran the course each time becoming more dirty and frustrated. A misting rain had begun and dirt dripped down the faces of the players. Oliver glanced over at the locker room, a quite pissed off look on his face as Luna, Jimmy, Justin, Kip, Tabitha, and Stone headed across the field under umbrellas. They were all wearing the same type of clothing. Navy and green bottoms and white shirts with navy sweater vests with green trim.
"Where in the hell do you think you six have been?" Oliver snapped at them as they glanced at their counter parts. "Training started at seven this morning."
The others looked at each other rather uncomfortably and went to open their mouths but slammed them shut as Stone stepped out from under the umbrella she and Justin had been sharing. She stood a foot from Oliver, her face tilted up at him.
"We were where we are supposed to be today. You really suck as a captain if you don't even know where nearly half of your team was for two hours today," Stone snapped sassily as the others landed, spraying the uniformed group with mud and dirt.
"You know what, Gabrielle," Oliver said with great frustration. He pointed to the locker room. "I have had enough of you already, and since I am not going anywhere, you can march yourself right into that locker room. You can remove your belongings from the locker room and your dorm. You are off the team."
Stone's mouth fell open for a moment before she snapped it closed and nodded once. She turned, covered in dirt and mud from George and the other's landing, and headed to the locker room. She made the door slam loudly behind her, echoing across the field. Alicia and Angelina shouted intelligibly at him with deep contempt and out rage.
"Tell him where you guys were," Alicia barked at the other five who remained silent. "Don't you care that Gigi just got kicked off the team?"
"Of course," Justin said as he stepped forward. "Wood, we were late to practice because we all had class down at the University. Sisters of Mercy University."
"All of you?" Oliver asked after a second, his eyes lingering on the crest of arms that the college had each student wear. Five heads nodded eagerly, as if they would prefer not to set the hot-head off at all cost.
"Yes, all of them," Angelina said to Oliver. "You need to go into that locker room and drag her back out here. I didn't just run that course, getting my ass kicked so that she could get kicked off the team."
"If anything, make her run it as punishment," George laughed as he nursed a bruised lip he had gotten from one of the challenges.
"Fine," Oliver sighed as he headed slowly to the locker room. He hoped that she had already left, but found her sitting on the bench. She was looking at her hands, crossed against her muddy school uniform. She didn't look up.
"What do you want? Come to yell at me some more?" Stone asked as she finally looked up at him. He had expected her to be crying, he had prepared himself for that, but she wasn't crying. She was just sitting there.
"Look, you should have just told me that you were at the university," Oliver chastised. Stone laughed coldly.
"We both know you don't want me on this team," Stone said. "If you had read our files, you would have known we were at the university. You would know that Justin has physical therapy at St. Mungo's on alternating nights, which he has to be taken to and from because he gets confused. You would know that Luna sees a therapist for her night terrors at least once a week. If you read our files, you would know that George's mother always has us all over for Sunday Supper once a month."
"Well, I admit, I haven't read the files yet," Oliver said.
"You are supposed to know us better than we know ourselves," Stone snapped at him. "You come in here like you are the god of Quidditch; you kick me out of my position without even seeing me play because you assume that you are better. You favor all of those who went to Hogwarts. You are a terrible captain. I don't know what Mr. Westall thought when he picked you."
"It's not your place to question his decisions, nor mine. You are one player on this team, and I expect you to act like a team player," Oliver snarled at her. She frowned at him, her arms now crossed tightly against her. "Now, you get out there and run that damn course like everyone else and I don't want to hear another word from you."
"Ever again?" Stone challenged. Oliver pointed to the door.
"You keep your comments to yourself," Oliver snapped. "Go!"
Stone joined the others on the field as the rain and wind whipped up around them. The others who had run the course for two hours previous sat back and watched as the six university students took to the skies and ran the course. They collectively cringed at each unexpected impact of various players into the course as well as each other. Finally after what seemed like forever, Oliver called them down. Not a single one of them complained.
"Ok, so I can definitely see where improvement can be made," Oliver laughed as the youngest six of his team looked like they had been through hell. They were all bleeding and battered. Where his older players had looked the same, the younger players seemed to be looking worse, and they were muddier, too.
"Brilliant," Stone cursed under her breath. Oliver shot a look at her, but said nothing. She clamped her mouth shut and didn't say anything else. She had her arms crossed, as did Luna and Tabitha. They had removed their sweater vests and with white shirts, it was more modest to keep their arms crossed.
Oliver paced the field, talking about strategy, but no one seemed to listen. They were shivering cold, and a few had taken out their wands to cast spells to siphon off some of the water and mud. Rolling his eyes, he realized that no one was listening to him. He sent the older ones back to the lockers and decided to hang back and work with the younger players a moment.
"Luna, Kip, as seekers you really need to move faster out there," Oliver said as he looked at the two. He instinctively looked over at Stone, but she held her tongue.
"Ok," Luna said. She stepped closer to Kip as if trying to steal some body heat. Oliver mounted his broom.
"Ok, let's see if you can keep up," Oliver shouted as he took off down the field toward the course. The six groaned loudly as they mounted their brooms and followed Oliver through the course. As the creator of the course, he knew the twists and turns like second nature. Kip was the first knocked off his broom, and Jimmy was second. Justin threw up his hands and surrendered, followed by Tabitha and Luna. They headed off the field and to the locker room.
"Ready to give up?" Oliver shouted back at Stone. She was even with the brush of his broom.
"Nope," Stone said laughing. She wasn't even trying to pass him, just following on his tail winds. Oliver groaned. It was a tactic he could stand, because it didn't let him go as fast as he could.
"Get out of my tail wind, Stone," Oliver shouted at her.
"Make me, Wood," Stone called back. Oliver stopped short and suddenly. Stone hadn't been anticipating that, and she shot forward at a dangerous speed. Hindered by rain, she could barely make out the obstacles in time to miss them. Oliver cringed as he followed after her, to finish the course. He heard a sicken crunch as a bludger-like ball shot out a them, catching her arm slightly. Still, she continued on, not willing to let Oliver beat her. She pulled to a stop and landed neatly on the ground. Wood followed suit.
"You ok?" He asked. She smiled.
"Never better," Stone lied smiling. "I am going to hit the showers. I have an afternoon class."
Oliver watched her walk off the pitch and he chased after her once he made vanished the obstacle course. The locker room was near silent, with only the sound of a single shower over in the far corner. Oliver thought better of taking the next stall and chose the furthest stall from hers. It would be less weird. Oliver gathered his stuff and glanced over at Stone as she reached her left hand into test the temperature of the water. She gathered her supplies and Oliver noticed that she seemed guarded about her right arm.
"Are you sure you are ok?" Oliver asked as he waited for his own water to warm. She nodded and smiled.
"Like I said before, never better," Stone lied. She pulled her hair tie free, letting her muddy locks of brown curls free. She had her back to him and slowly unbuttoned her shirt. She went to reach for the buttons with her right arm and swore.
"Do you need help, Gigi?" Oliver asked suddenly. Stone looked at him over her shoulder, her mouth in the shape of an O and rather mortified. He blushed, unable to believe he had mention such to a team mate.
"No, I think I can manage," Stone said stiffly as she ducked behind the curtain, out of sight. Oliver shook his head in contempt for himself. What in the hell was he thinking? He climbed into his own stall, and stripped down. Careful not to dirty his towel that was hanging beside the shower, he tossed his clothes into a heap outside of the showering vestibule.
Oliver looked down at his body while he cleaned himself of the dirt and rain that clung to him, displeased. His damn body was betraying him, and he didn't understand why. He hadn't been like this since he had been an adolescent. The more he thought about things, the more evident it became, beckoning him to take matters into his own hands.
"This is ridiculous!" He swore quietly to his betrayal. "What the hell do you think you are so perky about?"
Oliver made a point of thinking of brutal Quidditch accidents to take his mind off the part of his body he was choosing to ignore. He groaned uncomfortable as he made quick work of soaping up, running bloody wars through his mind. It was as if his mind was separate from his body. Her humming a few shower stalls over wasn't helping matters. Damn muggle music, he knew the song she was humming rather well because of her player.
Growling, he shut the water off and wrapped himself tightly in his towel. He jerked the curtain open to find Stone stepping out at the same time. Where as his towel was tucked in tightly around his waist, hers was above her breasts, her left hand clung to the overlap casually. She glanced over at him warily and said nothing as she walked into the girls changing area.
Oliver dressed quickly and waited at the opening of the girls' changing room. From where he stood, he couldn't see anything but he heard her swear softly. He shrugged and stood there.
"Are you sure you are ok?" Oliver asked.
"I am fine, alright?" Stone snapped loudly. Oliver frowned, but shrugged.
"Do you want me to wait?" Oliver asked.
"I am a big girl. I can find my way back to the dormitory," Stone said coldly.
"Ok, see you back at the dorms," Oliver said as he apparated back onto the front steps of the dormitory. He entered the building and was pleased to find his team showered and waiting in the common room. He figured that Stone would be just a few minutes, so he opted to wait for her to arrive before beginning.
"Ok, serious, how long does it really take to get back up here?" Oliver snapped as Stone walked in thirty minutes later. She had a long sleeve pull over on and her hair was dry.
"Uh…" Stone mumbled. "Sorry." She quickly took a seat on Justin's left. He patted her arm and Stone cringed. This did not go unnoticed by Oliver, but before he could say anything Angelina asked him about a game plan for their game against the Holland Hillers.
For thirty minutes, Oliver Wood went on about his most passionate subject, speaking as if the Quidditch match was a determining battle in the war to achieve the Quidditch World Cup. In a sense, that was the perfect way to think about it. They needed to win the battles to win the war.
"We hate to interrupt, captain, but we have class in twenty minutes," Stone said quietly, raising her hand. Oliver glanced up at the clock.
"Right, ok," Oliver said hesitantly. "I will catch the rest of you up later, ok?"
Once the six were gone, Oliver dismissed the others, calling Alicia and Angelina to remain. Once the three were alone in the room, he closed the common room door. The two girls remained in their seats as Oliver took his seat. They looked at him expectantly.
"I am thinking of changing up our players a bit, but I need your advice. You two say that Stone is versatile, and I have noticed that Luna and Kip seemed to be a bit timid when it comes to being seeker. I need someone a little more cutthroat out there with us against the Holland Hillers," Oliver said. Alicia and Angelina looked at each other.
"You are thinking of putting Gigi in for Luna or Kip?" Alicia asked. "What about a back up keeper?"
"I am keeper, we don't need a back up keeper," Oliver said confidently. Angelina smirked.
"It is the only response that I would have expected from you, Wood," Angelina laughed. She regained her composure. "I think she would make an excellent seeker."
"She's small, compact, and light weight," Oliver said nodding.
"You make her sound like an economy car," Alicia laughed. Angelina laughed with her. Oliver rolled his eyes.
"But, you think she would be willing to take the position and succeed in it?" Oliver asked them. The girls continued to laugh. "Come on! Spinnet, Johnson, be serious for a change."
"Ok, ok," Angelina said pulling her face serious. "We think she would do it and she would be fine."
"Good, well I am going to go read those files," Oliver said as he rose to his feet. He headed toward the door. "Oh, and keep me informed if there is anything I need to know about but don't, ok ladies?"
"Ok," the girls called waving him out the door.
"Yeah, that'll be the day," Alicia said sticking her tongue out at the door Oliver had just disappeared.
"Are you still mad that Westall didn't make you captain?" Angelina asked. Alicia pouted.
"Of course," Alicia said as they rose to their feet and headed up to their own dormitories.
