In The Life
By: Miss Aruri
AN: All of the original characters that I invented belong to (duh!) me. Everyone else, Quidditch, and everything I forgot to mention belongs to JK Rowling, but if it were mine, I'd be a darn millionaire!
Part I ****************************************
I hollered, pulling it tightly around my body. I scowled at the man as I got up. He was laughing. "Who the hell are you?"
The man straightened and stopped laughing. I stood up and walked over to him, watching where I stepped. But just as he was about to speak, the rest of my team ran in (Oliver limping behind). "What happened? I heard someone scream and-" Oliver's mouth dropped. "He-hello Mister Murphy…uh, nice to umm, meet you…" Oliver shook Mister Murphy's hand.
"I see you've met Rebecca." He said, nervously. Mister Murphy grinned. "Yes, actually. I happened to come across miss Young in her full glory (I blushed while the guys laughed at me). I've been watching your practices lately." "But we've never seen you." Lane said matter-of-factly.
"I have an invisibility cloak." Mister Murphy said simply. You seem like a great team-" "Today was one of our worst practices, sir!" Oliver said, jumping from his seat and wincing as he applied pressure to his knee. Whoever Mister Murphy was, he was probably important. Mister Murphy held up a hand. "Calm down Mister Wood. Let me finish. I've been watching your team's practices lately and I believe you are without a sponsor or manager. I've seen you; you're all are fantastic players. That's why I wanted to know if I could sponsor you and give you a chance at the Quidditch World Cup." He said with a smile.
It was chaos. Everyone was jumping around screaming and hugging each other. Oliver was crying when he pulled me into his arms. "We made it! We made it!" He kept shouting. I was screaming with excitement. My towel (miraculously) stayed up. I couldn't believe this was finally happening to me. I've been waiting my whole life, or at least the time I wasn't unconscious, to go somewhere with my life.
I was born a muggle. I had a strange and rare disease. The nerves in my back weren't working properly, meaning I couldn't stand or sit up. Most of my life I spent slipping in and out of a coma. It was part of the disease. I never learned how to read, but it didn't really matter. I doubted I'd ever need anything to read anyways. Everyone thought I would die.
After years of research, doctors finally found a cure for my disease. I wouldn't pass out randomly and stay that way for months. But they couldn't find anything to do to help my back. So I was put in a wheelchair. For the first time in my life, I saw my home. It wasn't too large, but very comfortable. My room was on the main floor so I wouldn't have to worry about stairs.
My parents wanted me to be educated, so I got a tutor. But I didn't like it very much, so they sent me to a private school. Everyone would make fun of the way I spoke (I was like a five year old in a ten-year-old's body. I spent most of my life unconscious or in a coma). So the tutor was re-hired. The next year, I received my Hogwarts acceptance letter. My parents were very worried about me being away from them for almost a whole year, but they let me go.
It was very hard getting around the school in a wheelchair. But some teacher bewitched it to go up and down stairs or something like that. I don't really remember. I didn't really have any friends. The teasing was even worse at Hogwarts. They'd make fun of my wheelchair and the way I talk and that I was stupid.
In my fourth year, I was getting sick and tired of having to sit everything out. I was tired of the teasing and the name-calling. I just wanted to be normal! So when I lay in bed, I did exercises mostly with my legs. After two months, I would try sitting up. It took me until the end of my fourth year to get this far.
When I got back to Hogwarts in my fifth year, I tried what seemed impossible; I tried to walk. But I couldn't do it. I would lean on my bed for support, but once I let go, I'd fall to the ground. With Harry Potter in his first year, nobody really paid attention to me. It took me a very long time just to be able to stay on my feet. It took me my whole fifth year.
In my sixth year, I was able to sit up in bed and walk a few steps without falling. I had done it! I had defied all the odds. I had proven the doctors and my parents wrong. Halfway through the year, I surprised everyone in the school, and myself, by walking down the stairs and into the great hall. Of course I did fall quite a bit, but I was walking. But still people's attitudes remained the same towards me. All accept one.
Captain of his house Quidditch team, attractive Oliver Wood was a person that everyone loved. I'd always noticed him in the hallways and at the games, but he had no clue who I was. I remember when Dumbledore asked me if I wanted to take flying lessons, I was delighted. He said I would be having private classes with Oliver Wood after lunch.
By the time my lessons started, I was walking better than before. Although I almost always fell on stairs and I'd stumble a lot, I was getting better. When I first met Oliver, he greeted me with a smile. Our flying lessons were fun, and he didn't make fun of me. I learned all about flying and Quidditch. He taught me how to play and everything. In the air I was graceful and skilled, unlike on the ground. But my moment to shine came a few weeks after I started.
We were sitting under a tree. Oliver was explaining the positions of Quidditch. The one I liked best was Seeker. He told me I had the right build for a seeker. So I asked him if I could try chasing something so small in the sky. He was a little reluctant, but he let me try. The rest is history.
I grinned as Chris slapped me on the back and Robert messed up my already messy hair. This has to be what it feels like to have good friends. It was a feeling I had none of during my years at Hogwarts. But that was in the past. Oliver is the only one that knows about my life and I hope to keep it that way. None of them suspect I'm any different than them (accept the fact that I'm a girl). My speech is just about as perfect as it can get and I am happy with my life.
Today was just another step in my life. And a great step it was. I wish I'd never ever have to leave it.
