"I think I'm going to throw up." Oliver muttered to Angelina who was sitting next to him in her uniform.
"Am I seriously hearing you correctly? The same guy who forced the Gryffindor team to practice at 6 in the morning until practically sunset?" Angelina scoffed as she pulled at her laces.
"Yeah but that was the school team. This is for real. And it's the Magpies." Oliver hissed and Angelina rolled her eyes.
"Ollie just chill man. This isn't your first rodeo."
"I mean it basically is." He muttered to himself as he peered through the curtain that led out onto the field from the locker room.
"Just do what we've been doing in training for the last month. As long as you remember your drills you're going to kill it. You've come so far since Hogwarts," Angelina nodded and stood up.
Oliver turned around to face her and closed his eyes while taking in a deep breath. "I know I know, I just always get nervous during the first game of the season." He said mostly to himself and opened his eyes.
"Yeah I remember," she rolled her eyes and gave him a soft hit on the arm, "But snap out of it. We're counting on you to block those shots. I know Lance is a good Seeker but we need you to be a good Keeper and I know you can do it."
Oliver gave her a strained smile and nodded just as the players were called to the entrance to the arena. He grabbed his broom from the wall next to him and made his way to the back of the line. As Keeper he would be the second to last to fly on to the field.
"Hey you got this man." Lucas clapped him on the shoulder in the line behind him.
Oliver gave him a strained smile as well and then the line began to kick off from the ground and zoom out into the arena. He let the roar of the crowd wash over him and he closed his eyes for a moment letting himself soak it in before doing a lazy loop around the arena and ending up in front of his goal hoops.
He gazed around the packed arena and though he couldn't see faces he could see the Puddlemere colors with a smattering of Magpie colors. He felt his mouth twitching into a wry smile as he felt the energy of the crowd pump him up as the referees walked onto the field with their brooms. On the big screen, he could see Lucas and the captain of the Magpies shake hands and kick back up into the air.
He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as the Snitch was released following the Bludgers. His grip tightened on his broom as he waited in anticipation for the Quaffle to be released. He knew as soon as it was the game would become electric. He looked back up to the big screen as the camera panned over the Chasers and he felt a slight jolt when he saw Marcus once again.
He was so distracted by the realization that he would playing against him that he nearly missed the start of the game. He tightened his grip so hard that his knuckles were white with the lack of blood circulation. How could he had forgotten that Marcus was a starter this season too?
Soon he could hardly think except to anticipate the throws.
Left hoop.
Right hoop.
Middle hoop.
He refused to let anyone through his hoops. They were his job. He was a Keeper and he refused to let anything through.
He saw Marcus countless times streaking towards him but each and every time he blocked him just like he was back on the Hogwarts pitch.
And each and every time he could see the anger and frustration build on both Marcus's face and his body language. The gritted teeth, the tense body, the flashing eyes.
It seemed Marcus hadn't changed since the last time Oliver had faced him.
It was 60 to 0 when he saw Lucas flash by him heavily pursued by the Magpie's Seeker. Oliver knew that Lucas had seen the Snitch and judging by Lucas's reputation on the practice field and the stats, the game would be over soon.
His eyes flicked back to the front of him when his eyes widened. The Quaffle was hurtling towards him so fast that he didn't have time to react.
The last image he saw was the red flash and Marcus's triumphant look and then….darkness.
And then there was light.
Oliver groaned as he blearily opened his eyes and shifted in his bed.
"Oh thank god he's awake." He heard a voice and his frowned as he turned his head towards the source to find Alicia and Angelina as well as the rest of the team gathered around his bed.
"What happened?" He croaked. "Wait…." He paused as the last image he saw flashed to the front of his thoughts. "Flint wasn't it?"
"Yeaaaah sorry babe." Alicia nodded and rubbed his shoulder.
Oliver gave an annoyed face and let himself sink into the pillows grumpily. "So what, do I have a concussion or what?"
"Concussion and a few cuts and bruises from when you fell." Angelina nodded.
Oliver kept staring at the ceiling in annoyance. "Someone please tell me he got a foul."
"Oh yeah he got suspended for the next game. It was pretty obvious what he had done." Alicia said matter-of-factly.
"Glad to hear something good came out of this mess." He continued grumpily. "How long am I sidelined?"
"Just a few practices mate. Nothing too crazy." Lucas piped up and Oliver looked over at him.
"Well thank god for that at least." He sighed and attempted to sit up but winced as the bruises on his ribs from his fall gave a painful twinge. "Did we win?"
"We demolished them." Lucas beamed. "Thanks to your awesome Keeper abilities of course."
"And your quick reflexes I'm sure." Oliver gave him a half smile that tugged on the corners of his mouth.
"Yes, yes, now let's scoot on out of here before the Healers yell at us again." Alicia fussed and herded the people out of the room as they all waved goodbye to Oliver. Alicia paused and gave Oliver a kiss on the forehead. "See you later babe."
Oliver nodded and let himself sink back into the pillows. He may be bruised and battered but he couldn't help but smile to himself. His first match as a starter and they had blown them out of the water. No concussion or rogue Chaser could take that away from him.
