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For the first time ever, Deena was excited about returning to school. She and Oliver had owled eachother all holiday (much to the dismay of the Parkes' family owl) and the last day of vacation had finally come.
Deena entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters with her 19 year old brother Sean (who graduated from Hogwarts two years ago) and her 10 year old brother Liam (who was ridiculously excited about starting his first year next year.)
Deena and Oliver immediately spotted eachother. They ran to embrace and Deena jumped onto Oliver, wrapping her legs around his waist.
"I missed you so much!" she giggled and, completely forgetting the presence of her two brothers, kissed Oliver deeply on the lips.
"Woah there," Sean said as he and Liam approached the embracing couple.
Deena jumped from Oliver's arms, her face slightly pink. "Uh, Oliver, this is my brother Sean and my brother Liam."
"Hello," Oliver said cheerfully offering Sean his hand.
Playing the part of the overprotective big brother, Sean suspiciously grasped Oliver's hand and shook it. "Pleasure."
"This is my, uh, friend Oliver Wood." Deena managed.
"Wood? You look familiar."
"Oh," Oliver stuttered, blushing a bit.
Sean studied his face for a moment. Then, with a look of sudden realization exclaimed, "Gryffindor Quidditch! You were that amazing third year keeper."
"Yeah," Oliver grinned sheepishly.
"I was a chaser for Ravenclaw my last year. I hated you!"
"Uh, thanks, I guess."
"You still playing?" Sean asked much more casually.
"Yeah," Oliver said, "I'm captain this year."
"Oh right Deena's told me about you. Hear that Harry Potter's a remarkable seeker."
Deena shook her head at the corny display of male bonding. After her brother and boyfriend wrapped up an invigorating conversation, Deena checked her watch. "The train's about to leave, we ought to go."
She gave Sean a hug goodbye and tousled Liam's hair. Sean clapped Oliver on the back and shook his hand.
"Nice meeting you Wood. Go easy on Ravenclaw, and uh, take care of my kid sister." Sean shot Deena a 'be good' glance and the two boarded the train.
James Conor flopped into a chair and looked up at the two equally angry faces of Oliver and Roz. "You're both out of your minds. I will not choose between you!"
Oliver nearly exploded. "I don't believe you!"
"Oliver-" James tried to explain himself but Oliver didn't stop ranting.
"First off, I don't believe you'd even *consider* dating this... this," Oliver couldn't think of anything horrible enough to call Roz, so he just pointed at and spat, "her." Then he continued, "And then you have the audacity to miss practice and use her as an excuse!"
Now James was fuming. "Well, *I* don't think its fair that the two reserves who actually show up to every single one of your ridiculous, break-of-day practices get chewed out for coming a half hour late when your reserve seeker girlfriend hasn't attended one!"
Just as James began roaring, the portrait hole had been opened to reveal Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia. They stood gaping until James finished and turned angrily to glare at them.
"Hi," Angelina grinned. The three occupants of the room seemed to grow impossibly more irritated. She offered one last smile and allowed Alicia to drag her up the stairs.
Fred and George, however, sat down on the closest chairs hoping to be entertained by whatever conflict had surfaced this time.
Chittering rather loudly, Alicia and Angelina burst into the girls' dormitories. They pulled back the curtains on Deena's four poster. Deena groaned and covered her face with a pillow.
"Wake up deary!" Alicia sing-songed.
"No," came Deena's muffled reply from beneath her pillow.
"There's a bit of a scuffle downstairs concerning a certain house Quidditch team captain."
Deena removed the pillow from her head. "What?"
"You were mentioned as well."
Deena rolled out of her bed. "Okay." She wasn't particularly listening to what her roommates were saying to her. She was almost at the bathroom when someone rushed by her and suddenly, the bathroom door was being slammed in her face. It was Noel.
Deena turned around and yawned. "That poor girl." She slumped against a dresser and halfheartedly started to brush her hair. "What were you saying again?"
"Well, when we came into the common room Wood and Conor were having it out. That cranky Roz girl that-" Alicia caught a warning glance from Angelina, "That, uh, Conor's dating was down there too."
"What were they arguing about?"
"Well, the part we heard was about how Conor was late for practice, but there was probably more before that. Anyway, James seemed pretty bitter about how you don't come to practices."
"Well it isn't likely that the almighty Harry Potter will let the team down." Deena smirked and gave an unladylike snort. Angelina and Alicia shook their heads in agreement. Deena was futilely trying to manage her hair when there was a loud banging on the door.
"Who is it?" Angelina called as the three girls exchanged puzzled glances.
"Its Fred, you have to..." What ever he said after his name was drowned out by the giggles of Angelina. Fred was perhaps the only thing in the world that caused such a shrill, ungodly sound to pour forth from that girl. This, of course, caused Deena and Alicia to laugh at her. They stopped short however when the banging grew even louder. "You need to let me in! Don't make me alohomora this door open."
The laughter started up once again, perhaps more hysterical this time, and definitely louder. The three girls gasped as Fred stormed into the room, but almost immediately began laughing again as a scantily clad Noel shrieked and dove back into the bathroom.
"Seriously guys, that fight got all heated and Oliver got, uh, knocked out I guess, by that mental ex-girlfriend of his."
Alicia and Angelina cringed and turned to look at Deena. "Ex-girlfriend?" Deena repeated. "*You knew* about that?!"
Fred faltered for a moment. "Didn't you hear what I said? They had to take him to the infirmary." The three girls followed George to the hospital wing as he explained to them what happened downstairs. He said that a three way screaming match ensued and something exploded from the end of Roz's wand and knocked Oliver against a wall. He also said that McGonagall warned he and his brother not to tell anyone or she'd perform a nasty memory charm on them. "I reckon she's crazy though. Rumors spread around this school like the plague. It would be impossible to keep something like this quiet."
They approached the hospital wing and stormed into the infirmary. When they spotted McGonagall, Fred asked where Wood was. The Professor glowered at Fred and the three girls standing with him.
"I warned you Weasley." She pulled out her wand and they all saw a flash of light. Suddenly, Fred was standing in the girls dormitory, Angelina, Alicia and Deena all stood gaping at him. Then a girl shrieked. They all turned to see a barely clothed Noel scamper into the bathroom.
"What just happened?" Fred asked.
"Well," Angelina began with a giggle, "You stormed in here and scared Noel into hiding for one." She chuckled again. "What so bloody important that you had to break the lock?"
Fred scratched his head. "I don't remember. I guess I'll go now..." He left the room to the sound of girlish laughter.
"Let me out of this bloody bed!" Oliver cried at Madame Pomfrey's retreating back, "This is ludicrous!" He gave up and laid back down on the bed. "I feel fine," he added quietly, lying only to himself. The last time he was committed to the infirmary, he snuck out in the middle of the night and made his way to the Quidditch pitch in order to make up for a practice he'd missed. This time, the bed he was in had been hexed so he couldn't leave it.
He winced in pain and inconspicuously rubbed the back of his sore head. He wouldn't admit to Madame Pomfrey that he was hurt, so, even though she knew he was lying, couldn't do anything for the pain. Oliver was so busy wallowing in self pity that he didn't notice McGonagall storm into the room.
"I don't suppose I can expect you to keep this quiet, Wood?" she said shrilly.
"What? The fact that I'm being locked up in here like an Azkaban prisoner?"
"No, the fact that you were the victim of a vicious attack by a fellow student."
"Oh right. No I uh, I won't tell anyone." Oliver made a face at his unconvincing lie. "So about the whole Azkaban thing. Think you can let me out of this trap?"
"Sorry about this, Wood," McGonagall said, raising her wand to point it at him. A soft light spread over the room and disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Oliver blinked. "Wha- What happened? Ow!" he suddenly clutched the back of his head, having forgotten his ruse.
"That's what I thought," Madame Pomfrey exclaimed from across the room, hurrying over to attend to him.
McGonagall smiled down at him. "Glad to see you've come around. You took a nasty fall off your broom after everyone had left the pitch," she falsely explained. "Always the fanatic, eh?"
Oliver nodded in a haze. "Right," he said, but he couldn't recall a thing.
Deena was sitting at breakfast chatting with George and contentedly munching on toast. Fred had mysteriously disappeared along with Oliver. George claimed the last time he remembered seeing either of them was at the Quidditch pitch, but he couldn't remember why they had stayed and he'd left.
"Oh wait, I think-" George was about to hypothesize again when Fred appeared behind him.
"Oi, Fred, where have you been?" Deena asked.
"Um..." Fred looked disheveled and slightly confused. "I was at the, uh, the infirmary! Right... Oh yeah! Oliver is there, he took a nasty fall off his broom after we had all left the pitch. McGonagall said it was lucky that I was still in the locker rooms or no one would have noticed. But I don't remember that..."
"Is he okay?" Deena asked quickly.
"Oh, yeah, yeah he's fine. They have him stuck to the bed though, so he doesn't run off like last time, I reckon."
Breakfast was nearly over and Deena couldn't be late for Herbology (she was barely passing as it was), so, as much as she hated to do it, she decided to wait until break to visit Oliver in the infirmary.
After everyone's empty brains had been refilled to the brim (and everyone's clean hands were covered in greenish gook) Deena and the twins headed to the hospital wing to visit their friend.
First they were intercepted by Conor. "Guys, did you hear?" he said quickly.
"About Oliver?" Fred asked.
"No, about Roz." Three blank faces stared back at him. "She's gone! She just... just.. up and left! No explanation or anything!"
"Rotten luck," Fred said insincerely.
"Yeah, she was a good catch, mate." George added his own lie.
"You can't be serious. That girl was a nightmare! She didn't have a pleasant bone in her body! And-" One of the Weasleys grabbed Deena's arm while the other apologized to James.
"Sorry about her, but we have to go..."
They left their distraught looking friend at the end of the corridor.
As they approached the infirmary, they were stopped again. This time, by Madame Pomfrey.
"Wood is in too poor a condition to have visitors at this time," she told them.
"Really?" Deena asked going wide eyed, "If I had known he was really hurt... Fred, you said he was fine!" Deena shot a glance at her red-headed friend.
As he looked blankly back at her, Oliver's voice came from inside.
"I'm fine!" he shouted. "Don't listen to her! Madame Pomfrey please let them in! Its the least you could do, really!"
Deena looked relieved and Fred and George snickered at the Quidditch captain's desperate cries. Reluctantly, the stuffy nurse gave in. The three offered rushed thank yous as they pushed past her to see Oliver.
"Wow, I'm really having de'ja vu," Fred commented staring around at his surroundings. George gave him a shove and Fred shoved back.
"Wow, Wood, you look-"
"-angry."
"Whats wrong?" Deena asked softly.
"The bloody restraining spell they've got on this bed!" Oliver reached his hand up and stopped, seeming to hit something solid, but there was nothing there. He pressed his harder against the invisible barrier, struggling to break through it. Fred and George found this ridiculously funny and doubled over with laughter.
Deena reached toward Oliver and didn't hit the "wall". In fact, she reached straight for his head and gave him a small smack.
"Ow!" Oliver cried glaring at her. "What was that for?"
"What were you doing out on the pitch alone?" Deena asked.
"I dunno! I don't even remember. The last thing I remember is Conor showing up late for practice. Then I yelled at him, then... nothing. Must've wiped out some of my short term memory," Oliver rubbed his head with a puzzled expression on his face.
George, who had wrapped up his laughing fit, matched Oliver's expression. "That's strange. That's the last thing I remember, too. I don't remember finding you unconscious or anything." All three of them turned to look at Fred.
"Nothing here. I remember everything I did perfectly well," he said.
Deena challenged that. "Why did you barge into our dorm while Noel was prancing around with no clothes on?" she asked.
"Well, I was uh... I was coming to tell you that, uh..." Fred shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. I thought those potatoes at breakfast tasted funny..." he said thoughtfully.
"Do you think they were cursed?" Deena asked excitedly, sitting on the corner of Oliver's bed.
"I think the house elves are rebelling and spitting in our food." Fred replied.
Deena rolled her eyes and scooted back so she was next to Oliver. "*Maybe* someone cursed your food to make you forget... something." Deena wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
"I think your both just mental." Oliver stated.
They stayed and chatted for a bit longer when they heard Mrs. Pomfrey yelling from down the hall. "Wood! I hope your little fan club left already because if they didn't-" The bell rang in the middle of her sentence and she appeared at the doorway, "-they're late for class."
Fred and George smiled guiltily at her and Deena scrambled to get off the bed - but she slammed right into the invisible wall. "Oooow," she moaned holding her forehead.
"Oh, dear, are you all right?" Madame Pomfrey hurried over. Her compassionate look of concern abruptly turned to one of anger. "I don't know what you were doing on that bed," she said searching for her wand in various pockets, "But I should most definitely take points from Gryffindor for that."
"Oh, that's not necessary," Deena said quickly, "We're late for Snape's class and you can rest assured that he'll take plenty of points off for you." She smiled hopefully.
"All right dear. But only because I know how Severus is." She finally found her wand and muttered a short spell. Deena leapt from the bed and blew Oliver a kiss, then hurried after the twins to the dungeons.
"Did Snape seem a bit... strange to anyone else?" Fred asked as the three headed toward the Great Hall.
"Snape *always* seems a bit strange," Deena huffed.
"No, really. he only took fifteen points from us and didn't even give us a detention. He seemed kind of... lethargic. Something must be wrong."
"To tell you the truth, I don't really care whats wrong with Snape so long as it involves him being human for a change." George said grumpily. Even with Snape acting so un-Snape-like, Potions always seemed to put a damper on everyone's moods.
Deena agreed and Fred shrugged. "I still think he's up to something."
Oliver was released from the infirmary just before dinner that night with strict orders "not to practice Quidditch or oversee Quidditch practice in any form for two more days." The longest, slowest days of his life.
To make himself feel better, Oliver woke up at the crack of dawn anyway and sat in the common room (all alone) going over various plays and scenarios an uncountable number of times.
After forty-eight excruciating hours, Oliver sat beaming in the common room the night before their first practice back. It was barely 8:30 when he announced, "All right, team, time for bed."
Rolling their eyes and making faces, the Gryffindor Quidditch players made their way up the steps.
Deena looked up from the Herbology essay she was struggling with and groaned. "You're going to bed already?" she asked with a mock pout.
"Well," Oliver eyed her mischievously, "I am the captain, so I suppose I could make an exception or two..."
"Wood, get up here, now!" one of the Weasleys called from the top of the staircase.
"I have to go," Oliver smiled. They exchanged a small kiss and Oliver started up the stairs. He was stopped, however, by McGonagall who had unobtrusively entered the tower. Wood was pulled into the corridor and returned a few minutes later, looking considerably more grouchy than he had when he left.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Deena called to him as he began to climb the steps without giving her a second glance.
"Nothing." He snapped and continued up to his dorm.
After waking up the entire team and irritably telling them to hurry up, Wood left for the locker rooms all alone. He wasn't as giddy as he should have been, not after what Professor McGonagall had told him last night. Slowly but surely, the rest of the team met him on the field. The Weasley twins seemed their perky selves, even this early in the morning. This upset Oliver for some reason.
They were fooling around, pretending to fall off their brooms, ultimately, doing whatever it took to make Angelina, Alicia, and Katie giggle.
Harry Potter was just beginning to dive after the practice snitch (a bewitched golf ball). Fred and George noticed this and raced after him. Harry caught the snitch and flew back up to meet the rest of the team in the air, laughing along with the Weasleys.
Oliver scowled at the team as they giggled at George who was flipping over on his broom. "Will you stop messing around?" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that will lose us the match."
The team stared at him. "Snape's refereeing this game and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points from Gryffindor."
Everyone looked stunned and they all gaped at Wood. George tipped over and fell off his broom - for real.
dundun.. dundun.. I wonder what happens next.. hm.. leave me some feedback!