Chapter 14

Classes started the next day. The first lesson was Defense against the Dark Arts. Tiannah, although she usually enjoyed this subject, was hating it. Gilderoy Lockhart, the professor, was vain, arrogant and very self-absorbed. Oliver, as a Quidditch captain, and Tiannah, who in the past was a captain, both hated people who boasted about their abilities. It was different to being like Hestia, who was a little vain, as it was only about her appearance. People who boasted about their abilities were certainly not assets to teams, or anything for that matter. Even Hestia, who usually fawned over people like Lockhart, was curling her lip in disgust at the sight of him.

"Damn it!"

Oliver was pacing around the common room, a million thoughts rushing through his head.

"I'm sorry Oliver! My parents want my grades to go up, and they say that Quidditch is a distraction," Alicia Spinnet cried in indignation.

"How am I supposed to find another Chaser? The Quidditch season starts in three weeks!"

Alicia thought for a moment.

"What about that Hestia girl, you know, the girly one. She has a Chaser's build."

"No, she hates it... THAT'S IT!" Oliver yelled, wondering why he didn't think of it earlier. He walked over to where Hestia was sitting, and he tapped Tiannah's arm.

"Tia, can you come with me?"

Tiannah nodded and followed Oliver over to where Alicia was standing.

"Meet Gryffindor's newest Chaser," Oliver said proudly, wrapping an arm around Tiannah's waist and squeezing her.

"Tiannah, Chaser? She has more of a Beater's build, with the height factor and the broad shoulders..."

Tiannah interjected. "I have been captain of my team back in America, and I have always played Chaser. Even when I was little, Oliver wanted to be a Keeper; I wanted to be a Chaser."

Alicia smiled at this. Tiannah had the enthusiasm, and, apparently, the talent. Although Alicia would greatly miss the team, she trusted Oliver's judgement.

"Well, Tia, welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

Tiannah started jumping up and down, squealing at Oliver's words.

"Thank you so much, Ollie! I won't let you down!"

When Oliver hugged her, Tiannah didn't feel any jolt in her stomach.

How odd.

It had been three weeks since Tiannah was accepted into the Gryffindor team, and it was an early Saturday morning. Oliver and Tiannah were the only people awake, as Oliver was showing her the diagrams for better training. He had booked the pitch that morning.

"Okay, Ollie, I'll go and wake up Katie and Angelina," she said, once the explanations were over.

Oliver and Tiannah were the only people who were fully awake as the team walked down to the pitch. Tiannah had met Harry Potter the day before, and in her opinion, he and Ron were adorable. Fred and George were falling asleep, and Angelina and Katie were yawning. The team sat in the changing rooms, listening to Oliver's words and falling asleep. Fred was accidentally sleeping on Tiannah's shoulder, snoring slightly, but it was obviously feigned. As Oliver was explaining the finer points of the tactics, Tiannah was listening with rapt attention, as Fred smirked into her shoulder. When it was all over, Fred lifted his head up and smirked. Oliver was looking very annoyed.

"Well, let's get started."

They walked out onto the pitch happily and mounted their brooms. Tiannah felt a rush of wind, and she grinned. Flying was the one time when she was blissfully happy. The happy feeling soon faded, as she saw that Marcus Flint was leading his team onto the pitch.

"I booked the field for today! We'll see about this," Oliver hissed in outrage. He shot toward the ground, landing rather harder than he meant to, purely out of anger, and he staggered slightly.

"Flint!" Oliver bellowed at the Slytherin captain. "This is our practice time! We got up especially! You can clear off now!"

Flint had a look of trollish cunning on his face, and he leered slightly at Tiannah, causing Oliver to get even angrier.

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."

Tiannah stood up to her full and considerable height, and glared at Flint.

"But I booked the field!" Oliver said, spitting with rage.

"Ah. But I've got a specially signed note from Professor Snape."

Tiannah and Oliver glanced at the note that Flint was holding with his grubby and troll like hands, and glanced at each other.

"You've got a new Seeker?" Oliver asked.

And from behind six large figures came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face.

"Malfoy," Harry said incredulously. Flint nodded.

"It seems like you also have a new member. Pity, Wood."

"What do you mean by that?" Oliver asked sharply.

"Once we smash your puny team, she will be in no state for fucking."

If Oliver was angry then, he was furious now. Tiannah felt a few tears prick her eyes in anger, but she blinked them away. The rest of the team were glaring daggers at Flint, who was smirking. Tiannah slapped him across the face.

"How dare you say something like that!" she yelled, in upmost fury. He put a hand to his cheek and his eyes darkened.

"I'll get you back for that, love."

Tiannah's skin crawled as he said it, and Oliver put an arm around her.

"Oh look. Pitch invaders," Flint drawled, black eyes focused at a point behind Tiannah.

Tiannah looked behind and saw Ron and Hermione making their way over. Oliver was glaring at Flint with distaste, when he spotted his broom.

"Where did you get that!" he gawked, as Ron and Hermione stood next to Harry.

"A gift, from Draco's father. They outstrip the old Nimbus range considerably," he added, glancing at Harry's broom.

"You see, unlike some, my father can afford the best," Malfoy said smugly. Before anyone could interject, Hermione cut in.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood."

Those awful word rung in the air. Tiannah and Oliver, although purebloods, hated the disgusting bigotry that surrounded muggleborns. Tiannah yelled, "How dare you!" and Oliver had to hold Fred and George back. Ron drew his wand and yelled, "Eat slugs!"

The curse backfired and hit Ron, who fell to the ground. Harry and Hermione rushed to his side as he started belching slugs.

Overall, Tiannah had had some better Quidditch practices.

The first Hogsmeade visit was to drawing near. It was the Friday before the visit, and Tiannah was talking to Oliver about Quidditch. Ken and Hestia were arguing about something stupid. They were truly perfect for each other; Hestia was out spoken and bold, Ken was charming and smart, and together, they made a really good power couple. But Tiannah couldn't help but feel jealous that she didn't have someone special. Her crush on Oliver was starting to fade a bit, to be replaced by a crush on Cedric Diggory. Tiannah was happy about this. Finally, she could go back to their uncomplicated friendship! Oliver passed Tiannah a piece of toast, and she gave him a smile. The smile soon brightened when she saw that Cedric was making his way over to the Gryffindor table. Hestia gave Tiannah a subtle thumbs up and Tiannah's hand flew to her a hair. Oliver frowned slightly; she rarely cared about her appearance at all. Cedric stood behind Tiannah.

"Hey, Tiannah."

She turned around and smiled, as if she hadn't been rehearsing her response in her head. "Hey Cedric."

"Would you mind if I had a word?" he asked, eying Oliver, who was furiously glaring at Cedric.

Tiannah got up and walked out of the Great Hall with Cedric. They walked out of the castle and into the grounds. Tiannah loved the grounds of Hogwarts, far more than at The Institute.

"I was just wondering, are you and Oliver dating?"

Tiannah shook her head. "Nah. Just best friends."

Cedric looked very happy about this, which Tiannah noticed, hoping it may be a sign that he liked her.

"Well, if you have no plans at Hogsmeade, I was wondering, if you would like to go with me?" Cedric asked nervously, running his fingers through his brown hair. Tiannah's stomach flipped and she smiled.

"I would love to, Cedric."

He smiled and kissed Tiannah's cheek, which took her completely by surprise.

"Okay, details please."

Tiannah rolled her eyes at the blonde, who was eagerly waiting to hear details.

"He asked me to Hogsmeade, ran his fingers through his hair, and then kissed me on the cheek. That's all!" she said exasperatedly. As Tiannah anticipated, Hestia squealed.

"That's so great for you! Gosh, I'm so happy for you!" Hestia said, hugging her friend. Tiannah went to bed with a grin on her face, as she thought about what might happen at Hogsmeade.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up,"

Hestia was poking Tiannah, who groaned.

"You bitch; you just ruined my perfect dream."

Hestia smirked.

"I'm the bitch that is going to make you drop dead gorgeous for your date."

Tiannah got up quickly at the mention of her date with Cedric Diggory.

"No dresses."

Hestia rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Fine, but there will be make up."

Tiannah agreed.

"Now, it's a shame you don't fit into my clothes, you giant. Go shower, and I'll find you some clothes."

Tiannah picked her bathrobe off the floor and walked into the bathroom, as Hestia looked for some clothes.

She finally settled on black tights, a shortish denim skirt, blue converse shoes, and a matching blue jumper that brought out Tiannah's eyes. When she hopped out of the shower, Hestia showed her the outfit.

"It's great, Hest. How am I wearing my hair?" Tiannah asked. She rather liked being pampered once in a while, as she rarely had cause to dress up.

"I was thinking that you should wear it down. Good for hiding behind, in awkward situations."

How does Hestia think of everything?!

"Straight or curly?"

"Hmmm, straight. It's your natural hair type, after all. We can't make it look like you're trying too hard."

"True. So, makeup?"

Hestia thought about it.

"A little mascara and eyeliner. Lipgloss, of course. I think that about covers it," Hestia finished.

When Tiannah was dressed, she showed Hestia, who clapped.

"Perfect. Now, let's go."

Hestia dragged Tiannah down to the entrance hall. Oliver stared at Tiannah, who had a wide smile on her face as she talked to Hestia. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but even if he could, he wouldn't be paying attention. He hadn't seen Tiannah looking so... girly in a while.

"Why are you dressed so nicely?" Oliver enquired. Tiannah took a deep breath.

"I'm meeting up with Cedric Diggory in Hogsmeade."

Hestia saw that Oliver paled, and his eyes showed how hurt he was. But when he replied, his voice was carefully controlled.

"That's great. I hope you have fun," he said casually.

"Thanks, Ollie. Well, I guess I'll see you there?"

"Yeah, I guess."

A few minutes later, once Oliver was gone, Cedric appeared. He stared at Tiannah and smiled.

"You look lovely, Tiannah."

Hestia took this as a good time to leave, and Tiannah waved after her, her blonde curls bobbing.

When Cedric and Tiannah arrived in Hogsmeade, they decided to go to the Three Broomsticks first. They took a seat and Cedric grinned. They ordered Butterbeers and sipped it, Cedric not taking his eyes off her.

"I'm really glad that you said yes to coming with me. I really appreciate it."

Tiannah shrugged and smiled. "It's not a problem. I really wanted to go with you, so I was happy when you asked me."

"That's good. And there I was thinking that you and Oliver were a couple..."

"No, we're not. I've known him since I was born, and we've never been anything more than friends. Its gets a little tiresome, really. People always thinking that we are dating," Tiannah admitted. Cedric gave her a smile.

"Well, I'm glad you're not dating."

"And why's that?" Tiannah asked, a smile creeping up.

"Why do you think? Cedric asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have no idea!" Tiannah teased, smiling.

"Could we leave?" Cedric asked. Tiannah nodded and he wrapped his fingers around hers. They walked until they found a pretty tree, and Cedric and Tiannah faced each other.

"Ah, Tiannah, I was wondering... will you be my girlfriend?" Cedric asked nervously. Tiannah was mentally performing a victory dance.

"I would love to," she replied, her cheeks glowing and a grin plastered on her pretty features. He was slowly leaning in, and their lips met. Tiannah automatically kissed him back, as his arms laced around her waist. When he pulled away, Tiannah was grinning. Just as she leaned in to kiss him again, there was a bang. Tiannah turned around, and saw Oliver angrily stalking off.

For some reason, the sight made her heart sink.

Disclaimer: As with most wonderful things, this doesn't belong to me.