Chapter 4.8 POV Jo

So far in our little war, it's Cas:1, me:0. I thought it would be just a temporary setback, but twenty four hours after her little strike, I'm realizing she hit a lot harder than I ever thought. She's good. Pure evil, but so damn good.

Yesterday morning during class, she passed me this little orange hair ribbon- cute, right? Says she's sorry she's been so secretive and bitchy- her words- and says the ribbon is a peace offering. She got behind me and braided my hair and tied it up. Ribbons aren't usually my style, but she was trying, and she admitted she was a bitch, and I can't just ignore progress like that. So I spent the day with my hair up. A couple of friends asked me where I got the ribbon and I felt nice getting complimented like that. Might have even fell asleep with a smile on my face.

This morning I most certainly do not have a smile on my face. I got up early- it's a quidditch day. We're playing Hufflepuff, and I've been looking forward to playing another match for the longest time. So I get up early before everyone else and go straight to the bathrooms to shower and freshen up. I got out of the shower and toweled off and got my robes on and everything, which is when I went to dry my hair.

It was orange. And I don't mean like a crisp auburn fall leaf orange. My hair was Weasley orange. Is Weasley orange. I did everything I could think- showered my hair out two more times, toweled it like crazy, and even took my wand to it. Nothing. I don't know how she did it, but Cas dyed my hair orange.

I've had a winter cap on all morning, my hair piled up on top of my head so no one can see. I've been getting some looks, but I've managed to avoid all my close friends. I had breakfast alone and went after Cas immediately- I have to get to the pitch for a mandatory pre-game practice and motivational speech by Oliver. Damn…what'll Oliver think? What can I tell him? That Cas has been trying to break us up and get me together with George? That I did this on purpose? Maybe I can say it was an accident; like a spell gone wrong? Hell, I won't let it come to that. I'll get Cas to fix it.

But where the hell could she be? Not the owlry, or the Great Hall, or the potions dungeons. I'm about to get George and have him spill the beans about how to get into the Slytherin Common Room, when it hits me- the library. That nerd would totally be in the library on a Saturday. So I go check. There's only one person in there, and not exactly someone I should be- or even want to be- talking to.

"Hey there, Jolene!" Shouts Charlie. She's a chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Later today there's more than a fair chance I might be sending bludgers her way. With that in mind I nearly pretend I didn't hear her and leave. But we're in a library; an empty library; and she's basically the nicest person in the school.

"Hey, Charlie," I reply with a small smile. She pats the chair next to the one she's in, inviting me to sit. I put my hands up in protest.

"Sorry, really, but I'm just looking for someone," I tell her, backing up slowly.

"Cassidy, right?" She asks. My jaw nearly drops. "Yeah, you just missed her- she said you might be around. Actually, she left a message: she said you'll just have to wait until after the match. I don't know what that really means, but I'm looking forward to the match, aren't you?" I have no idea how to respond to that. After the match? Like hell I'm waiting until after the match. I can just image her smug little self running around the castle, not staying anywhere more than ten minutes, leaving dozens of people with the same message for me.

"What's with the winter cap? I mean, I thought it was warming up- are we expecting another cold front?" Charlie asks. I shake my head and mutter something about a bad hair day. She laughs and waves goodbye, wishing me luck in the match. I leave the library with no real destination in mind.

How does she do it? Charlie, I mean. She's so friendly- and not in the suffocating, syrupy way, but the genuine nice person way. No one's nice anymore- I mean, people are still nice, but everyone's going around like they've got rain clouds hovering over them. And they've got good reason. People are being attacked. In Hogwarts. You always hear people say that this is the safest place in the world to be, and there are kids getting petrified on their way to class. The houses have divided- Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws all stick to themselves. It's like no one trusts anyone anymore.

And then there's Charlie, who will spend her time talking to literally anyone who passes by- I swear she knows everyone's name and is on everyone's good side. People like her are what makes Hogwarts the best place on earth.

I find myself back at the Gryffindor common room, and as I pass the fat lady's threshold, I come to face the rowdiest pep rally I could have imagined. I'm grabbed by both sides by random underclassmen and thrust into the middle of the common room with the rest of the team. I'm swept up into the excitement and forget my troubles for a little bit…until Oliver gets up and calls us all to the pitch. We leave the castle, and on our way over George asks me why I have this ridiculous hat on.

"Bad hair day," I tell him in an admittedly pissy way. I mean, if I don't know how to explain it to Oliver, how the hell am I gonna get George up to speed?

We get our Quidditch gear on and circle up, and Oliver begins one of his long-winded motivation talks. I'm only half paying attention, like most of the team- until he starts talking strategy, and he's doling out specific roles and tips and his eyes land on me and sort of scrunch up- I hold my breath, fearing a comment or request to remove the hat, but Oliver's in his zone, and he's not going to stop for something so unrelated to Quiddtich. I thank the Quidditch gods for that one.

And just like that, I get away with it. We take the pitch, and the match starts and we're playing and it's going great. We score some, they score some, Oliver makes a few great saves, Angelina makes a few amazing shots, and Lee makes more than a few biased comments. Cas isn't in the commentator's box like usual- when the play is slow or a Quaffle is being retrieved, I scour the stands to find her- there's no way she'd miss this, right? I mean, whatever she did, it worked. She would die before missing the look of me flying around looking like a grown up version of Ginny, the twins' little sister. Finally I see her- and it makes me sick. She's deep in the throes of the Slytherin section of the stands, planted firmly next to Mathers.

I shake the image from my mind and follow the bludgers, protecting my team. I end up by the goalposts for a front row seat of Oliver saving a particularly tricky shot by Charlie. He clears it to a chaser and I go to zip off, but I feel it. The hat comes off. Damn my boyfriend.

It's our thing- whenever we're near each other on the pitch, he tugs my braid or ponytail or whatever. It's his playful way of saying…well, I don't really know what something like that is specifically saying, but it's what he does. Sometimes if I'm beneath him I'll tug his Keeper's robes, but that doesn't happen as often.

Well, today I don't have a braid or ponytail, just a gold and red cap. He pulled it off. The full untamed orange mess is released to billow in the wind.

"Well look at that! For those of us old enough to remember, it's like a flashback to the era of two Wealeys on the pitch! Just look at that little lioness's mane!" Lee bellows from his box. Little prick is lucky I don't have a bludger nearby to wallop his way. I could do it. I could do it and no one could blame me.

Fucking lucky little prick. No bludgers this way; they're all near the action, which is where I need to be, so I zip off and the match continues as always, but with Lee making as many little digs as he can possible fit in. "The female fireball's got quite an arm on her today," "Gryffindor's more catty carrot-top saves the chasers a lot of pain there," "Ooh, the racy new red-head just barely dodges a bludger." The crowd is eating it up. I can't take the time or energy to find Cas again, but I bet she's enjoying herself. I could say it's windburn, but my face is probably as red as my uniform right now.

Harry ends up catching the snitch and the match is over and we won, but I don't have time to revel in success. We shake hands with the Hufflepuffs, and before I can escape to the lockers, Chalie shows up again and pulls me aside once we dismount.

"Hey! Great game today, you really deserve that victory!" She says in classic Charlie fashion, "And I absolutely love the new hair! What made you do it?"

"Oh, it just sort of happened," I say, and she laughs. Then a thought comes to me. "Hey, can you pass a message on to Ruby? She's about this tall and-"

"I know Ruby! Sure, what do you want me to say?" I give her a message to deliver, feel a warm sense of revenge bubbling inside me.

I go to the lockers and catch up with the rest of my team- Oliver gives a victory speech and everyone's celebrating and it's all good until the conversation turns to my hair. Comments are made implying it was a 'brilliant strategy on my part- shock them so they can't focus'. George comes right over to confront me. Before he says anything I tell him one word: "Cas." He doesn't need a reason behind her actions. He might not even think she has a reason, but all that matters is that my comment took care of George. Now I just need to deal with-

"Hey there, pretty lady," Oliver says, tugging my ponytail. I look up and open my mouth to start rambling some not very thought out lie, hoping it'll turn out for the nest or that my bull shitting will step up to the plate, but he leans in and stops any words I may have with a quick kiss.

"Orange is a brilliant color on you, ferret," he tells me with an amused smile. That's what I love about Oliver- no matter what it is, we trust each other- we're on the same page- whatever you call it. This just proves it in my mind: he and I are soul mates.