I just realized that this is most likely going to be a very long story…just warning you.
Eek! I just found this totally delicious picture of Sean Biggerstaff on his website (www.seanbiggerstaff.com). HE IS SO HOT. I'll shut up now.
~*Chapter Four*~
Conversations With The Enemy
"Quidditch practice tonight, people!" Oliver said on one October Thursday at breakfast. The Weasley twins groaned simultaneously, looking very tired- Filch had had them working late for their detentions. "Come on," Oliver said, "first game of the season's versus Slytherin, and we have to beat them!"
The twins grunted in reply. To them, Slytherin wasn't as big a threat as falling asleep in McGonagall's class.
***
Oliver gave his usual speech that night, talking about how it was practically now or never for the Cup. "Three times a week!" Oliver announced. And so they started practicing, three times a week, rain or shine.
Halloween approached rapidly, and with it the first Hogsmeade visit of the year. People were going around the hallways with brighter smiles on their faces, anticipating the visit and the coming holiday.
"I have to hit Zonko's," remarked George on October 30th, shaking his head slightly. "I'm running low."
"And I need some more Choc…" Alicia failed to finish the sentence, daunted by Oliver's stare.
"I need to send a letter to Mum," Angelina said. "Things haven't been so well at home and I promised I would write."
The next day the entire Quidditch team, minus Harry Potter who wasn't going on this visit, squeezed themselves into one of the horseless carriages. Angelina and Katie ended up sitting on the twins' laps, as there was really only room for four people in the carriages.
"Stop that, Fred!" Angelina ordered. Fred was attempting to bounce her up and down on his knee. "Damn, I'd rather sit on Oliver's lap and that's saying something." Oliver even cracked a smile, for once not thinking about the Quidditch Cup. Angelina couldn't help but smile back; Oliver in a good mood was a rare and glorious experience, a cause for celebration.
The carriages stopped at Hogsmeade to let the students off. Chaos immediately ensued, with Fred and George pushing a wide path through the crowd that let straight to Zonko's Joke Shop and the remainder of the Quidditch team trying to follow. Fred pulled two Galleons out of his pocket and, thanks to Zonko's low prices, was able to purchase an enormous amount of items, claiming that he didn't need any more candy or "crap like that". The next stop was the infamous candy shop, Honeydukes, where Oliver kept a very close eye on his three Chasers. Then Angelina darted into the post office, paying a few Sickles to send a letter to her mother. Finally, when everyone was finished, they went to the Three Broomsticks.
"I've missed this stuff," Oliver said, looking fondly at a tall mug of Carmel-colored butterbeer. The rest of the team agreed. The whole atmosphere of the place, the tinkling of the bells over the door, the slight murmur of talk from other tables, and the warm taste of butterbeer in your mouth made you feel a little sleepy. The team sat in silence for a few minutes, content with not talking. Looking around at Fred and George, with their half-closed eyes, and Alicia and Katie finishing off the last drops of their mugs, and then Oliver with a infrequent smile on his face made Angelina feel like this was her family and she had left home for two months on vacation to her house.
At that moment, the bells above the door tinkled and Angelina was jerked out of her trance. Cedric Diggory walked in the door. He spotted Angelina and smiled at her, waving at her to come over. "I'll be right back," Angelina said, getting up from the table. Oliver looked after her for a few minutes with a disappointed look, but it was different then before, somehow…
"Hi, Cedric," Angelina said. She noticed a wad of papers in his hand. "What's that?"
"Letters I have to send." Cedric looked at Angelina for a moment, his head cocked to the side. "Do you want to come with me?"
"Sure," Angelina agreed, smiling at him and following him back out the door. 'I'll be right back,' she mouthed to the people she had left behind. Oliver acknowledged this with a curt nod of his head, and then he went back to staring into his butterbeer. The smile was gone.
Angelina walked into the post office while Cedric went up to the desk, digging some coins out of his pocket. Angelina reached into her pocket and drew out a treat she had bought back in Diagon Alley for her own owl. She fed it to one of the owls nearby. Another owl saw and flew over for a treat, and Angelina brought one out for him too. The owl flew away, back to his perch near the ceiling. A gust of wind blew through the building and the tags tied to the owls' feet fluttered in the breeze.
"Come on, Angelina, we can go sit on the bench outside and talk," said Cedric, pointing to a bench outside Zonko's. Angelina followed him across the street and sat next to him.
"So I hear you're playing Slytherin in you're first match," Cedric said. Angelina nodded.
"Unfortunately," she answered. "So that means that you're playing Ravenclaw. They've got a good Seeker."
"Cho Chang," Cedric said, nodding. "Even on that Comet broom of hers, she's a challenge. She'll tail you until you see the Snitch and you have to dive."
"I'm glad I'm not a Seeker," Angelina said. "Trying to find that sucker in bad weather must be a nightmare."
"It is."
"Are you bothered about weight, because you're a Seeker and all?" she said out of the blue. Cedric shrugged.
"You can't get too heavy, or else the broom can't maneuver as quickly."
"Oh," Angelina murmured. "'Cause Wood pesters us all about not eating, Seeker and all. You know," Angelina realized, "he pesters us Chasers more than the Seeker himself."
"Harry Potter," Cedric said. "He could probably play for England, when he's older and if he wants too. Its only once in a while you come upon a talented Seeker like that."
"You know," he said after a pause, "we should talk more."
Angelina laughed. "Hogwarts is probably the worst place for dating. It's like, how 'bout I meet you in the Charms room? Eight o' clock? I promise, Flitwick won't notice!" Cedric laughed.
"Well, it's time to go," Cedric said reluctantly. "I'll be rooting for you…it's about time someone other than Slytherin wins that damned Cup."
"I agree," Angelina said as they walked towards the carriages. "'Bye."
"'Bye." Cedric walked further down the row and climbed into another carriage. Angelina found the one with her team members inside and climbed in.
"Hi, you guys," she said, sitting on Fred's lap again. Oliver smiled tightly at her. "What's wrong you guys?" Angelina asked, bewildered. "Its just Cedric. I'm allowed to talk to him, aren't I?" She turned around to look at Fred. "Right, Fred?"
Fred bounced her on his knee. "It's Cedric, that's the problem- he's a Hufflepuff and he can't be trusted."
"Aren't Hufflepuff's supposed to be honest?" Katie asked.
"I dunno- anyway, I'm trying to prove a point," Fred said. "Angelina, he's on an opposing team. For Quidditch? And, you can't possibly like him because he's just some pretty boy with no brains and good teeth."
"Shut up," Alicia said.
Angelina looked across at Oliver, who was looking out the window with a faraway, almost sad look in his eyes. Angelina stopped him as the rest of the team went up into the castle. "Oliver?" she asked gently. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said quickly.
"Oliver," Angelina pressed, giving him a friendly hug, "you can tell me." Then she took his hand and began walking with him towards the Great Hall.
"It's just"- Oliver said, stopping again outside the doors of the Hall. "So much pressure's on me to win the Cup, it's either this year or next year and we haven't got a Cup in seven years now. "
"Don't worry, Oliver," Angelina comforted, reaching up to give him a friendly kiss on the cheek. "Everything will be okay." Oliver smiled a bit, and that was all it took to make her happy.