DISCLAIMER: WE OWN NOTHING. If we did, we would still be making Harry Potter movies.
Hey guys,
So if you haven't noticed already, I'm not writing much of this story. However, I will be doing the odd chapter, and Bookworm Ali has the plan for it. Again I apologise for not updating much, School got in the way of my creative juices. Ali is doing this as a favour for me, and I'll make sure that when I do write a chapter, that you know.
This chapter is my work,
}{anabell
Middle of Winter
"Anyone seen Hestia?" Katie called, coming out of the lockers.
"I saw her come down here." Angelina replied, walking out onto the pitch, to be stormed past by a very angry Oliver Wood.
"Who dumped our robes onto the bench?!" He exclaimed, seeing the lump of red and gold on a bench. Walking over to the pile, he pulled one robe up with the end of his broom, hoping that it wasn't a Weasley trick. What he saw however, surprised him.
"Hestia…" He whispered, seeing the mop of Weasley red hair, and a shivering 11 year old. "FOUND HER!" He yelled, before pulling one of his own jumpers off, and pulling it down over Hestia's head. God, even her nose was blue. "We need all the jumpers over here!"
"Cold…" Hestia whispered, shivering as she tried to adjust.
"I know." Wood said as the rest of the team arrived, seeing how cold the girl was.
"December means beaches, 40°, and ice cream…" She started. "Not snow…" She finished, as Wood pulled more jumpers over her head. There were 6 jumpers on her at the moment, Harry being told not to give his up as he was almost in the same boat as she was. She was small normally, but now she looked tiny.
"Welcome to the United Kingdom." Fred smiled, sitting down next to her, and wrapping an arm around the mound of jumpers that were on his cousin.
"Don't like it… Australian Academy warmer…" She muttered, hoping that no one had heard that.
"Neither do we!" George affirmed, as his brother finished the thought.
"We're freezing now!"
"Hestia takes precedence." Wood said, taking charge of the situation. "Hes is younger and smaller." He added, before looking at the team, who was now huddled around Hes. "Everyone back up to the castle. Nothing's going to get done today." He finished. Not how he wanted one of the last practices before they faced Hufflepuff to go, but he had to take what he was given.
"You should eat something, Oliver." Hestia said, as she and her friends arrived for breakfast. It was game day, and Wood was as nervous as ever.
"Wood doesn't eat before the game, Hes." Percy said, eating his own toast.
"Anything he put's in would just come back up with carrots." Fred said, sitting down next to his captain.
"Really?" Colin asked, looking excited at the prospect of getting a photo of the Quidditch captain vomiting.
"No." Wood snapped, putting more food onto Harry's plate, before making sure that Alicia was eating too.
"Well, there was that one time…" George started, before a glare from Wood stopped him.
"I binge after the game." He reasoned.
"That's not healthy." Elanor said, picking her way through her cereal.
"What are you a healer or a first year?" Wood asked, obviously not happy.
"If you don't eat, then I won't." Hestia said firmly, setting her fork down, despite how hungry she was. Snape had had her catalogue where everything was last night, then by the time she arrived at the Hall, she was lucky to be able to get a bread roll.
"Hestia…" Percy warned, not happy at the way his cousin was behaving.
"If I keel over, it's on his head." Hes said firmly as she picked up The Prophet that Gwaihir had just set down on the table.
"Fine…" Wood mumbled, grabbing a bowl of porridge. "It won't be staying down though." He said, begrudgingly.
"Then have some of this." Hestia said, pulling a small parcel from her bag. She hadn't let that bag out of her sight since she started to have detentions with Snape.
"What is it?" He asked, unfolding a bit of it. It looked like a piece of bread. That certainly wouldn't stay down.
"Lembas." Hestia replied, taking a small bite out of another piece.
"What?" Asked those around them
"It's elfish waybread." She said, sighing, remembering that not everyone here knew about Middle Earth. "One small bite is enough to fill a grown man's stomach. It's perfect for forced marches. It keeps almost forever." Hestia explained, gesturing for Wood to take a bite.
"It's actually not bad." He said, nodding, going to take another bite.
"One bite, Wood." Hestia said, pulling the piece of bread away from him.
"I'm in training. I need roughly 5,000 calories a day!" He complained, back to his pre-match frowny face.
"Yeah, well. A Hobbit called Peregrin Took once ate 4 pieces of this stuff and had indigestion all the way down the Anduin." Hes said, looking at Daisy, before adding "That's a river."
"I don't sodding care." Wood said, trying to get it back. Hestia just gave him a firm whack on his padded forearm with a spoon.
"No. Bad Gollum!" She scolded, causing him to smile slightly.
"Fine..." He muttered, checking Percy's watch, before calling the team to leave.
Hes sat up in the stands, Ginny wasn't feeling up to watching the game, and this was a great experience. Her ada (Dad) had let her watch her first game of Quidditch last year, convincing her mother that it was a good cultural experience. But she'd never seen a Seeker sent off for a minor offense.
Ron had said that this was Madame Hooch they were dealing with here.
"Hagrid, what happens now?" She asked, leaning over the railing slightly.
"'Ell, 'Estia, 'ey 'ave te call in a reserve Seeker." The half giant replied, smiling down at the small girl.
"Who do you think Oliver would call?" Hes asked, with a confused look on her face.
"Could be anyone's guess."
"Who you calling Wood?" Katie asked, as Harry landed and walked off the pitch. He wouldn't be allowed back on for the rest of the game.
Pursing his lips, Wood made the call of his life. "Fly over to Hes. Tell her to robe up." He said, as the Chaser flew away, "Johnson! Tell McGonagall that we're playing Hes. Fred! Meet your cousin!" He bellowed from the posts. If this didn't pay off quickly, they could lose the house cup. Well, they'd get the wooden spoon anyway. This was Hufflepuff he was talking about.
"HES!" Katie yelled, pulling up in front of the first year.
"Katie! What's happening?" Hes squeaked, confused as to the rules in this situation, and if Wood wanted a Seeker, he had 5 other older Seekers than her to pick from.
"Wood wants you to robe up and get out onto the pitch!" Katie yelled, over the noise of the crowd.
"But I only have the year robes!" Hes exclaimed.
"Wear them. We won't let them hunt you!" Bell said, "Fred will meet you by the bay. Good luck!" She finished as she flew off, intercepting the quaffle from a Hufflepuff chaser as she went. Hestia sighed as she pushed through the crowd of Gryffindors, trying to get to the lockers. Thankfully Percy had heard most of the conversation.
"MOVE IT! DO YOU WANT TO WIN THIS GAME?!" He yelled, the crowd instantly parted, maybe due to fear of Oliver Wood finding them and killing them.
"Thanks Percy!" Hes yelled as she ran down the stairs, loosening her tie and scarf as she went, by the time she arrived, her shoes were off and her jumper was thrown instantly into her small locker. Pulling on the horrid gold jumper with a single red stripe around the middle, the inverse of the house colours, she had the pants on within seconds and was fastening the dragon-hide padding on her arms. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get anywhere near tight enough.
As she laced up her boots, she felt a tugging at her shoulder pads.
"This is a most surprising turn of events." A voice said, continuing to tighten the protective padding.
"I hope I can do the team proud..." Hestia mumbled, as McGonagall continued to make sure that she was safe, Wood would be double checking in any case.
"I know you can." McGonagall said, leading the girl to the bay where Fred was waiting for them, "That's why I chose you as a Seeker." She winked, handing the girl one of the school's Cleansweeps. "Go get them." She said, shooing the Weasley cousins out onto the field, a small puff of pride filling her chest. She remembered when Jonathon had played Chaser for the house, Gryffindor had been next to unbeatable, some of the teachers wanting to take the team to a professional level. But times were different back then...
"Wood'll want to check you padding again, though it looks like you pretty much nailed it." Fred said, as he escorted her over to the hoops.
"McGonagall helped." Hes replied, as they arrived.
"Ready for your first house game?" Wood asked, motioning for her to fly closer, and Fred to bugger off.
"No!" Hes squeaked. "I'm wearing different robes to you lot! I am literally a traffic cone!" She said as he did a quick circle around her "They'll head hunt me!" She finished as Wood nodded.
"Who cares?" He asked, finally satisfied that the 11 year old was safe.
"I care! I like being ALIVE!" Hestia retorted, as Alicia scored a goal.
"Well you're safe as long as you stay down this end with me. Katie and Angelina or the twins will come and guide you so it doesn't look suspicious." Wood explained as Lee Jordan was rolling her statistics off the top of his head. She was the 5th Weasley to play for the house team, and most definitely the youngest, beating Fred and George.
"Wood!" Katie yelled, as the Quaffle came hurtling towards them.
"Not on my pitch!" Wood yelled, easily deflecting it. "Go for a lap." he instructed.
"Kay Oliver!" She replied, flying off to join the older girls.
"Since when can anyone call you by your first name on Quidditch day?" George asked, knocking one of the bludgers away from the hoops.
"First game nerves." Wood snapped, head back in the game.
Hes was just passing the Gryffindor stands when she saw a flash of gold.
"Found you." She hissed, breaking ranks with Katie and Angelina, and wove her way through the Hufflepuff team. Both Bludgers were sent her way, but she dodged as though she had ridden a broom first, then walked. And Cedric Diggory, a boy from Wood's year, was seriously starting to piss her off with his trash talking.
"Playing a game are we, little Gryffindor?" He asked, flying close to her.
"DIE!" She yelled, as the twins swooped in like magpies. Hes dodged another bludger and pushed her Cleansweep to the limit. Diggory was on her tail again, his own broom far superior to hers.
"Where you going, little Gryffindor?!" He yelled, catching up to her.
"RUN!" She hissed at her broom in elfish, as she watched the snitch change it course- heading towards the Gryffindor posts.
Her broom responded to the simple elfish command, reminding her that it was still an organic broom, unlike the Nimbus 2001's.
Wood glanced around, making sure that nothing was coming his way when he saw both Hestia and Diggory speeding towards him. "Shit!" He muttered, seeing the determined look on Hestia's face, not once flinching, even when Angelina swooped in and intercepted the Quaffle. This girl was a daredevil, he'd give her that. It made her slightly like Charlie, her older cousin, in that respect. Both bat-shit crazy over the snitch, and if someone was after it, they wouldn't let up.
"Give up Weasley!" Diggory exclaimed, ramming his broom into Hestia's shoulder. Her father said that you could tell how angry a Weasley got by looking at the shade of red their hair was. And Hestia's was a deep red, almost identical to Ginny's.
"Not in my nature!" Hes shot back, rolling above him, causing him to back off a bit. The snitch was closer to the Gryffindor hoops, and she knew from training that it was damn near unpredictable. She'd have to jump if she was going to grab it before it changed course again. Jumping meant standing and confidence-something she was still working on.
"C'mon Madame Hooch! That was a foul if ever I saw one!" Came Lee Jordan's commentary over the stadium. "She's 11! Skin and Bone practically! And that was her shoulder!" He added, cussing as she flew past. Adjusting her position to one she'd seen Harry take in training, Hestia shot past the Ravenclaw stands, the house shouting for both teams. Legolas was Sindar, she was Noldor and Quenya as well as Sindar. If he could defy the laws of Physics then so could she.
"SHIT!" Wood yelled, seeing Diggory pull away from the high speed chase. Hestia had adjusted her position to one that read that she was about to stand up. As an added bonus, there was a Quaffle inbound as well. Why did he have to make these hard moral decisions? He was a bloody Keeper and the captain of the team, for God's sake, not an ethics' student. That was Alicia's job.
Either way, he'd have to be quick if he was going to be able to take out the Quaffle and then grab Hestia. Keepers don't do that type of quick. He though as they both got closer. The majority of his team was up the other end, distracting Hufflepuff. They wouldn't be able to get back here that quickly.
"What's happening?!" Colin asked Hagrid from where they were up in the stands, the Gryffindor posts were down the other end of the pitch, and it was getting difficult to see exactly what was happening.
"'Estia's stood up on 'er broom!" The half giant narrated, taking a second look through his binoculars to make sure.
"What?" Colin yelled, making sure his camera was ready for a picture.
"You blind her and the entire team will kill you." Elanor said firmly, reefing the object away from his hands.
"But she's soo far away!" Colin complained.
"Sensitive eyes, moron." She stated, giving Colin a challenging look that said 'I dare you…'
"Fine." The boy pouted, as Daisy finally processed the information.
"Is she gunna do it?" She squeaked, her eyes screwed shut.
"I can't tell, but the Keeper looks like he's having a problem." Elizabeth said, hugging her Tookish friend. Neither of them were watching, and despite not being major followers of the sport, but understanding the basics of it, or at least being Chasers. They had all heard stories about the sport. The team positions with the highest death rates were Seeker and Keeper, due to the risks they both took. Chasers were a close third, according to Percy.
What surprised them more was that Elanor was now standing on Seamus Finnigan, a second year's, shoulders, both were standing exceptionally close to the railing. Then they both roared
"YOU CATCH THAT GOLDEN BALL OF SHITE HESTIA!" over the top of the normal Go go chear.
"Here goes." Hes muttered, standing up. She'd climbed thousands of trees before, and jumped of random places in Rivendell, when she was there. Springing off the broom and towards the posts, her feet found Fred's head. A stepping stone as such. Using it effectively, she started into a roll, channelling a torpedo as she flew towards the snitch. Reaching out, she felt a small metal object in the centre of her palm. Only problem now was that she didn't have a broom, the twins were up the other end of the pitch now, Wood had an incoming Quaffle and no Hufflepuff would be wanting to help her.
"ERU!" She yelled, a scream starting as she lost her momentum and started to fall.
Hestia's scream permeated around the pitch, and reminded Wood how young she was…
Hurling the Quaffle away with the wicker part of his broom, he sped across to Hestia. Grabbing her right wrist, the same side where Diggory had rammed her earlier, she stopped with a jerk, thankfully there was no pop from her shoulder. She grabbed onto his wrist as he tried to keep his broom from capsizing. Both of her eyes were screwed shut.
"HES! Eyes open!" He commanded, keeping all his focus on the girl. Her left eye opened, basically all pupil with only a slither of stormy grey around the outside. "BOTH EYES!" Wood yelled, as the right eye soon followed.
"Ollie…" Hestia whimpered, looking down. They were about 100 metres up in the air, and granted for someone who had been dropping only a few seconds ago, seeing your feet dangling and your only support or stable object was on a broom himself, and holding you by your wrist, it was scary. Hestia was taking this well.
"Don't look down! And don't let go!" He yelled, getting her focus back on him, ignoring the use of his nickname. Right now she needed Wood, the Quidditch captain, not Ollie or Oliver, her friend.
"Scared…" Was all he managed to make out as she started to mutter in elfish.
"HES! I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO!" Wood exclaimed, now seeing her stormy eyes look up at him. Now he had her complete attention, he could try to move her. "I'm gonna try to pull you up!" He added, tightening his grip on her wrist. His palms were sweaty from the game, and the only grip he was getting was from his gloves. His fingers were barely gripping her jumper, but hers were strong. How she was managing to keep his grip was amazing. As he began to pull that arm up, she suddenly screamed again, and as much as he hated to admit it Wood almost dropped her.
"What's wrong?!" He yelled, as the entire school watched them.
"ARM! DIGGORY BLOODY BRUISED IT!" She yelled, as she moved her legs, trying to find a foothold. Seeing what she was doing, he stuck his right boot out. Hes found the foothold, and placing nearly all of her weight on it, she swung up. First swinging a little to the left, before swinging herself up behind him.
"You okay?" Wood asked, the Quidditch captain turning into her friend again. All he got in response was a small nod. "Scared?" another nod. "I gotcha." Wood smiled, as the rest of the team started to move in, now that Hes was remounted on a broom. Even Harry was back out on the pitch.
"VICTORY LAP!" Fred yelled, swinging his beaters bat in the air. Completely ignoring the fact that his youngest cousin had almost died. And that Wood wouldn't be spending 4 hours in the showers.
"Wanna victory lap?" Wood asked, as Hes hugged his torso, giving him a small nod. "Smile kid! You just won your first game in style!" He smiled.
"Still sinking in, Ollie." She replied, as the Gryffindor team flew around the pitch, Hestia's left hand still grasping the snitch, as they did the celebratory lap.
"Tell nobody about that nickname. And don't say it in public." Wood said, as they zipped around the pitch, now passing the teacher's stand. Even professor Snape was clapping for the Gryffindor's win. Hes managed to get a good look at his eyes. Grey like hers.
"Sure, Ollie." Hes smirked as they landed near where her discarded Cleansweep was. When they walked back over to where the rest of the team had landed, Hestia was lifted onto Fred and George's shoulders.
The look Wood had sent her read "You say that again and I will drop you from the team." Wood glared at her then his face broke out in a huge smile.
