Innocent Words
Author: Captain Cornflake
Chapter Eleven: The Q.A Cup Final
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*DISCLAIMER*~
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The date of the final had been confirmed as the 18th of June, and it was now the 16th. The third and final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was scheduled for the day after the final, on Monday the 19th.
The venue for the game was decided too, it was to be held at the Puddlemere ground, owing to the fact that this was their first final in twenty-five years.
At the end of every practice session, Oliver checked that his plan was intact, the others had no idea what was coming. He smiled to himself and went back to hoping that the game in two days time would be a win.
Emilia, once again, went back to school so she could get some sleep before Sunday's game.
By 1:30pm on Saturday, 24 hours to go, she was a bag of nerves, so much so that she left her DADA catch-up session early, with Professor Moody's permission, to go and calm herself down a little bit.
She made her way to the Quidditch field, where there was now a maze for the third task. Em sat down in the middle of one of the empty stands and stared out over the field. There were footsteps behind her and someone sat down next to her.
"Hi" he said, it was Cedric.
"Hi Cedric" she replied.
"Nervous?"
"Yeah."
"It's understandable, but if the team have faith in you, and you have faith in yourself, you can do anything."
"Thanks, that helped a lot"
Cedric put an arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulders. By now, he had finally accepted that he and Emilia were nothing more than friends, despite everything that had gone on between them.
"What about you? Aren't you nervous?"
"Yeah I am, but its not bothering me"
"Wow, I wish I could feel the same way about tomorrow" sighed Em
"You will once you get out there"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmm."
"Look" he said, holding her hand tightly "You'll be fine, I've seen you play, those Canadians don't stand a chance, maybe that Philips still has a dodgy nose"
"Yeah I hope so."
"You'll be fine" he hugged her closer and they looked at the high, shining Quidditch hoops.
When it came to going to bed, Em couldn't get any sleep what so ever, so, with the help of Katie and George, she brewed herself a light sleeping potion that helped her drift off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.
Alicia shook her awake at 10am and told her Oliver had arrived to pick her up.
The nervous Keeper opened the door slightly and gazed at his girlfriend, who was pulling on a thin crème coloured tee shirt.
"Hey." he murmured.
She whipped around to look at him, and then continued pulling on her trainers.
Oliver walked over to and sat down on the bed, where only six months previously, they had consummated their relationship.
"Still nervous?" he asked.
"Oh yeah, just a little bit" she replied sarcastically.
"It's gonna be ok.I promise" said Wood, pulling Em into his arms.
He looked at his watch and whispered:
"Come on, it's time we were going"
"Ok" she said, pulling on a thing jacket.
The two tense players left the room, walked the long spiral stairs to the common room, where, to their surprise, every conscious Gryffindor was gathered to wish them both good luck.
Outside, Em gasped when she saw a small Fiat, Oliver had learned to drive!
"Oh my god" she laughed, opening the passenger side door and stepping in
"What?"
"You actually learned to drive?"
"Yeah I did, I figured it would come in handy"
Em just laughed and shut the car door, and they were off.
Wood's driving was still a bit dithery, which was understandable, considering he had only passed his test a few weeks previously.
After a bumpy ride, they touched down in the stadium's car park, which at the moment was deserted.
Sam and Ian, being the team captains, were already at the ground.
"Hey you guys, how're you doing?" inquired Sam.
"We're good, aren't we?" replied Oliver, looking at Em.
"Yeah, we're um, great." she trailed off and gazed over their heads at the barely visible tower stands, adorned in the teams colours.
"Come on, let's get inside before the press get here" said Ian, putting a hand on Emilia's shoulder and ushering her inside.
1pm, thirty minutes to go, everyone, including Oliver were so nervous they though they were going to be sick.
The crowd outside were well up for it, considering there were ominous clouds gathering overhead.
No one noticed Oliver slip his lucky charm into his pocket.
"And here comes the rain" announced the commentator.
"Oh great" sighed Will.
"Will you please give a huge round of applause for the home side.Puddlemere United!"
"Ok ladies, lets get this over with." said Sam, rousing the team into action. They walked the ever-darkening tunnel, shaking silently.
Many of them were hyperventilating, in fact, all of them were. The door in front of them rose up and they flew out on to the quickly dampening field.
The referee didn't bother with any pre-match pleasantries, he just released the Bludgers and the Snitch, then the Quaffle, and the rain-soaked game began.
Oliver resorted to using the double eight loop, flying at nearly 100mph around the goal hoops. Will and Ian had perfected the Porskoff Ploy, also Ben and Will had been practising the Reverse pass with deadly accuracy.
Minutes were passing, turning into hours, and at 3:30pm, Em flew past the hoops Oliver was defending and shouted to him.
"I'm taking that Philips out!" she flew away.
Wood smiled and raised an eyebrow as Emilia went into her faked dive; Philips caught onto her and hesitated to follow, fearing that it could be the Wronski Feint. The Stormers captain, Chaser Emmet nudged him and told him to 'get the hell on her tail'
So, not wanting to get a smack around the head, Philips plunged after his opposite at a terrifying speed.
Em looked behind her, knowing that her plan was working perfectly. The red and White clad Seeker was less than two feet behind her, and she was ten feet from the ground and closing. She pulled out of the dive a split second later, leaving Philips to crash headlong into the muddy, rain soaked field below.
Emilia laughed and punched the air, a triumphant expression on her face. Oliver looked at her, and then at the conferring Canadian team. There were many nods and arms wove in Em's direction and it worried him.
She flew by him and he said:
"Be careful, they're planning something."
Em just gave him a reassuring smile and continued looking for the Snitch.
Oliver was busy defending the hoops from yet another goal, the score now being 120-90, the Stormers way, when he heard a high pitched yelp further down below him. He figured it was Em.
She was hovering about 40ft below him, now holding her right foot.
He shouted down to her:
"Hey! Are you ok?"
"No!" she squealed, her face scrunched up in pain.
Wood gave the offending Beater a death glare and asked Em if she was all right to keep playing. She said she was, and then she sped off after what he assumed was the Snitch.
Em had to zigzag around several players to stay on target, she stuck her right arm out as always, the Snitch just out of her reach.
"C'mere. You. Little.son-of-a" she grunted, trying desperately to make her broom go faster.
Her slender fingers crept around the golden ball and grasped it tightly, sealing the games fate.
Not concentrating after that, Emilia collided with Oliver, sending them both flying to the ground. They landed in the sand of the scoring area, side by side, breathing heavily, looking slightly dishelved.
They both heard the whistle go, but it didn't sink in, at least not until five faces appeared over them, three of them crying with joy.
"Do you realise what you've done?" screamed Sam.
A broad smile now graced her face; Jason helped the pained Seeker to her feet, Will and Sam helped Oliver up.
Mr Griff had made his way onto the field, crying profusely. He congratulated the whole squad and then lead them to the stand where they were to receive their winners medals and be presented with the cup.
The gallant losers accepted their participation medals and congratulated the opponents. They had a few photos taken, were asked a few questions by the press and then disappeared into the changing rooms.
The announcer was shouting into his mega-phone:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the winners of the 1995 Quidditch Association Cup.. PUDDLEMERE UNITED!!!"
A huge never-ending roar burst forth from the stands.
Oliver parted from the crowd and had a word with the commentator, who turned the megaphone towards the teams, not before saying:
"Ladies and gents, a member of the teams has something to announce."
Ian let Emilia down from his shoulders and supported her with one arm.
Wood paused and took a deep breath.
"Emilia, there's no easy way to say this, but I-I love you now, and I hope to be with you forever, and I hope you feel the same way.." He went down on one knee.
The crowd fell silent apart from the shallow breathing of many. Emilia was hyperventilating.
"Will.will you." he stuttered, "Will you marry me?"
Em couldn't speak for the huge lump in her throat. Oliver looked up at her, expectantly and hopefully.
Then came the answer:
"Yes" she squeaked.
Wood swept her up into his arms, kissed her passionately, then put her back down; he went back down on one knee and produced the box he had been keeping in his locker. He opened it, and inside was a tiny diamond set in a thin white gold band.
He slipped it on the fourth finger of her left hand, stood up and pulled her in for another long, never-ending kiss.
The stands all stood up and applauded them furiously.
Emilia was going to be Mrs Oliver Wood.
-Oliver's Pov-
I'd never felt so happy in all my life, we'd just won the QA cup and I was about to ask Em to marry me.
No one could contain their tears of joy as the cup was presented to us, least of all me. That moment was amazing, but nothing compared to when I asked the commentator to lend me the megaphone.
The others looked a little confused, but Emilia looked blank, expressionless almost.
I said my bit about how I felt and then, feeling like I was about to be violently sick, I did what I thought was the most romantic thing possible, I got down on one knee. Em's face drained of all colour. She started to hyperventilate, evidently we thought we were both gonna pass out.
I had her right hand between both of my palms and tried to say:
"Will.will you"
I couldn't get the bloody words out to save my life, but then they just came out.
"Will you marry me?" There, I'd said it, I got it off my chest, and it felt great. There was that silent tense moment, like in all those muggle movies I'd heard about.
Her almost silent reply was like music to my ears.
I was almost crying when I cradled her in my arms, and then I put her down, pulled the ring out of my pocket and put it on her finger.
Right then, life was great and nothing could bring me down, or so I thought.
Author: Captain Cornflake
Chapter Eleven: The Q.A Cup Final
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*DISCLAIMER*~
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The date of the final had been confirmed as the 18th of June, and it was now the 16th. The third and final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was scheduled for the day after the final, on Monday the 19th.
The venue for the game was decided too, it was to be held at the Puddlemere ground, owing to the fact that this was their first final in twenty-five years.
At the end of every practice session, Oliver checked that his plan was intact, the others had no idea what was coming. He smiled to himself and went back to hoping that the game in two days time would be a win.
Emilia, once again, went back to school so she could get some sleep before Sunday's game.
By 1:30pm on Saturday, 24 hours to go, she was a bag of nerves, so much so that she left her DADA catch-up session early, with Professor Moody's permission, to go and calm herself down a little bit.
She made her way to the Quidditch field, where there was now a maze for the third task. Em sat down in the middle of one of the empty stands and stared out over the field. There were footsteps behind her and someone sat down next to her.
"Hi" he said, it was Cedric.
"Hi Cedric" she replied.
"Nervous?"
"Yeah."
"It's understandable, but if the team have faith in you, and you have faith in yourself, you can do anything."
"Thanks, that helped a lot"
Cedric put an arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulders. By now, he had finally accepted that he and Emilia were nothing more than friends, despite everything that had gone on between them.
"What about you? Aren't you nervous?"
"Yeah I am, but its not bothering me"
"Wow, I wish I could feel the same way about tomorrow" sighed Em
"You will once you get out there"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmm."
"Look" he said, holding her hand tightly "You'll be fine, I've seen you play, those Canadians don't stand a chance, maybe that Philips still has a dodgy nose"
"Yeah I hope so."
"You'll be fine" he hugged her closer and they looked at the high, shining Quidditch hoops.
When it came to going to bed, Em couldn't get any sleep what so ever, so, with the help of Katie and George, she brewed herself a light sleeping potion that helped her drift off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.
Alicia shook her awake at 10am and told her Oliver had arrived to pick her up.
The nervous Keeper opened the door slightly and gazed at his girlfriend, who was pulling on a thin crème coloured tee shirt.
"Hey." he murmured.
She whipped around to look at him, and then continued pulling on her trainers.
Oliver walked over to and sat down on the bed, where only six months previously, they had consummated their relationship.
"Still nervous?" he asked.
"Oh yeah, just a little bit" she replied sarcastically.
"It's gonna be ok.I promise" said Wood, pulling Em into his arms.
He looked at his watch and whispered:
"Come on, it's time we were going"
"Ok" she said, pulling on a thing jacket.
The two tense players left the room, walked the long spiral stairs to the common room, where, to their surprise, every conscious Gryffindor was gathered to wish them both good luck.
Outside, Em gasped when she saw a small Fiat, Oliver had learned to drive!
"Oh my god" she laughed, opening the passenger side door and stepping in
"What?"
"You actually learned to drive?"
"Yeah I did, I figured it would come in handy"
Em just laughed and shut the car door, and they were off.
Wood's driving was still a bit dithery, which was understandable, considering he had only passed his test a few weeks previously.
After a bumpy ride, they touched down in the stadium's car park, which at the moment was deserted.
Sam and Ian, being the team captains, were already at the ground.
"Hey you guys, how're you doing?" inquired Sam.
"We're good, aren't we?" replied Oliver, looking at Em.
"Yeah, we're um, great." she trailed off and gazed over their heads at the barely visible tower stands, adorned in the teams colours.
"Come on, let's get inside before the press get here" said Ian, putting a hand on Emilia's shoulder and ushering her inside.
1pm, thirty minutes to go, everyone, including Oliver were so nervous they though they were going to be sick.
The crowd outside were well up for it, considering there were ominous clouds gathering overhead.
No one noticed Oliver slip his lucky charm into his pocket.
"And here comes the rain" announced the commentator.
"Oh great" sighed Will.
"Will you please give a huge round of applause for the home side.Puddlemere United!"
"Ok ladies, lets get this over with." said Sam, rousing the team into action. They walked the ever-darkening tunnel, shaking silently.
Many of them were hyperventilating, in fact, all of them were. The door in front of them rose up and they flew out on to the quickly dampening field.
The referee didn't bother with any pre-match pleasantries, he just released the Bludgers and the Snitch, then the Quaffle, and the rain-soaked game began.
Oliver resorted to using the double eight loop, flying at nearly 100mph around the goal hoops. Will and Ian had perfected the Porskoff Ploy, also Ben and Will had been practising the Reverse pass with deadly accuracy.
Minutes were passing, turning into hours, and at 3:30pm, Em flew past the hoops Oliver was defending and shouted to him.
"I'm taking that Philips out!" she flew away.
Wood smiled and raised an eyebrow as Emilia went into her faked dive; Philips caught onto her and hesitated to follow, fearing that it could be the Wronski Feint. The Stormers captain, Chaser Emmet nudged him and told him to 'get the hell on her tail'
So, not wanting to get a smack around the head, Philips plunged after his opposite at a terrifying speed.
Em looked behind her, knowing that her plan was working perfectly. The red and White clad Seeker was less than two feet behind her, and she was ten feet from the ground and closing. She pulled out of the dive a split second later, leaving Philips to crash headlong into the muddy, rain soaked field below.
Emilia laughed and punched the air, a triumphant expression on her face. Oliver looked at her, and then at the conferring Canadian team. There were many nods and arms wove in Em's direction and it worried him.
She flew by him and he said:
"Be careful, they're planning something."
Em just gave him a reassuring smile and continued looking for the Snitch.
Oliver was busy defending the hoops from yet another goal, the score now being 120-90, the Stormers way, when he heard a high pitched yelp further down below him. He figured it was Em.
She was hovering about 40ft below him, now holding her right foot.
He shouted down to her:
"Hey! Are you ok?"
"No!" she squealed, her face scrunched up in pain.
Wood gave the offending Beater a death glare and asked Em if she was all right to keep playing. She said she was, and then she sped off after what he assumed was the Snitch.
Em had to zigzag around several players to stay on target, she stuck her right arm out as always, the Snitch just out of her reach.
"C'mere. You. Little.son-of-a" she grunted, trying desperately to make her broom go faster.
Her slender fingers crept around the golden ball and grasped it tightly, sealing the games fate.
Not concentrating after that, Emilia collided with Oliver, sending them both flying to the ground. They landed in the sand of the scoring area, side by side, breathing heavily, looking slightly dishelved.
They both heard the whistle go, but it didn't sink in, at least not until five faces appeared over them, three of them crying with joy.
"Do you realise what you've done?" screamed Sam.
A broad smile now graced her face; Jason helped the pained Seeker to her feet, Will and Sam helped Oliver up.
Mr Griff had made his way onto the field, crying profusely. He congratulated the whole squad and then lead them to the stand where they were to receive their winners medals and be presented with the cup.
The gallant losers accepted their participation medals and congratulated the opponents. They had a few photos taken, were asked a few questions by the press and then disappeared into the changing rooms.
The announcer was shouting into his mega-phone:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the winners of the 1995 Quidditch Association Cup.. PUDDLEMERE UNITED!!!"
A huge never-ending roar burst forth from the stands.
Oliver parted from the crowd and had a word with the commentator, who turned the megaphone towards the teams, not before saying:
"Ladies and gents, a member of the teams has something to announce."
Ian let Emilia down from his shoulders and supported her with one arm.
Wood paused and took a deep breath.
"Emilia, there's no easy way to say this, but I-I love you now, and I hope to be with you forever, and I hope you feel the same way.." He went down on one knee.
The crowd fell silent apart from the shallow breathing of many. Emilia was hyperventilating.
"Will.will you." he stuttered, "Will you marry me?"
Em couldn't speak for the huge lump in her throat. Oliver looked up at her, expectantly and hopefully.
Then came the answer:
"Yes" she squeaked.
Wood swept her up into his arms, kissed her passionately, then put her back down; he went back down on one knee and produced the box he had been keeping in his locker. He opened it, and inside was a tiny diamond set in a thin white gold band.
He slipped it on the fourth finger of her left hand, stood up and pulled her in for another long, never-ending kiss.
The stands all stood up and applauded them furiously.
Emilia was going to be Mrs Oliver Wood.
-Oliver's Pov-
I'd never felt so happy in all my life, we'd just won the QA cup and I was about to ask Em to marry me.
No one could contain their tears of joy as the cup was presented to us, least of all me. That moment was amazing, but nothing compared to when I asked the commentator to lend me the megaphone.
The others looked a little confused, but Emilia looked blank, expressionless almost.
I said my bit about how I felt and then, feeling like I was about to be violently sick, I did what I thought was the most romantic thing possible, I got down on one knee. Em's face drained of all colour. She started to hyperventilate, evidently we thought we were both gonna pass out.
I had her right hand between both of my palms and tried to say:
"Will.will you"
I couldn't get the bloody words out to save my life, but then they just came out.
"Will you marry me?" There, I'd said it, I got it off my chest, and it felt great. There was that silent tense moment, like in all those muggle movies I'd heard about.
Her almost silent reply was like music to my ears.
I was almost crying when I cradled her in my arms, and then I put her down, pulled the ring out of my pocket and put it on her finger.
Right then, life was great and nothing could bring me down, or so I thought.