One evening, she came back home from a stroll in the park, and found Oliver
sitting in the living room, looking incredibly tense. Slightly alarmed, she
sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. To her surprise, he
didn't hug her back. She pulled away from him and looked at him
questioningly. Oliver remained silent for a while and then, he said
'Alison…you do know that I love you more than anything else…don't you? Even
if I do come home late from practice, you don't mind, do you? Because if you
do…I wish you'd tell me…'
'I don't mind…I know you're practicing really hard and I know you're happy
and that's all that matters. And I know you love me…how could anyone not
love me???' she added jokingly.
When Oliver showed no signs of being amused, she whispered, 'what's the
matter…you're not telling me something…'
'No, its you who isn't telling me something.'
Alison recoiled at Oliver's sharp tone. He had never spoken to her like this
before. Her eyes filled with sudden tears and she blinked rapidly. Her lip
quivering, she pleaded, 'I don't know what you're talking about Ollie…'
'You know exactly what I'm talking about.' He jumped off the couch and began
to pace back and forth in front of her, clenching his fists periodically.
'But because you're feigning ignorance, I'm goin to spell it out for you.
Brett! That's the problem! Why, in heaven's name are you spending so much
time with him. Whenever we talk, you bring him up…I just…I…Alison, please
tell me that you and Brett aren't…'
'Oliver! I can't believe you would even think that! Brett is a friend…a good
friend, nothing more! I spend time with him because he's fun to be with…'
'And I'm not???'
'I'm living with YOU; I'm not living with Brett! What does that tell you
about how I feel??!! I love you, Oliver Wood, even though at times like
this, I want to slap you so hard. I thought you trusted me Oliver…I thought
you were better than this…but I guess you had to have your one fault, just
my luck that it would have to be jealousy.'
Oliver's face paled and he collapsed onto the couch and buried his head in
his hands. That one gesture made all of Alison's anger dissipate, and she
could feel the hot tears rolling unabated down her cheeks. She sat down next
to him, and unconsciously Oliver placed his strong arms around her and
pulled her towards him.
'I'm sorry,' he whispered. 'I don't ever want to lose you and when you
started spending time with Brett, I didn't know what to make of it. I'm
sorry. I should never have doubted you.'
'You will never lose me…not even if you tried…'
Oliver smiled feebly at her, and raised his fingers to her face. Alison
grinned mischievously and said, 'so, how come you're home early tonight?'
'I told Jason that I had to talk to you…he understood.'
'Well…since you're home early, why not make good use of the extra time.'
Alison got up and pulled Oliver into the bedroom, shutting the door firmly
behind them.
*****
One full moon night, after practice finished early, Alison and Oliver
joined the rest of the team down at the pub. The music was just beginning to
pick up its pace and the various dancers were beginning to set up the groove
on the dance floor. Alison and Oliver were having the times of their lives
and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were both a little
tipsy from drinking a tad too much alcohol. Jason watched in amusement as
the pair broke out into a ridiculous combination of the waltz, the tango and
the foxtrot right in the middle of a fast rap song. Before he could comment
on it, however, his attention was diverted by the appearance of three highly
attractive women in the pub. And to his surprise, he realized that although
he recognized their famous features, he knew one of them personally. He
realized that he was looking at the three Weird Sisters.
They made their way to the corner booth and sat down. They were all wearing
long capes and obviously didn't want to be recognized. Very discreetly, they
ordered something to drink and then began to discuss something under their
breath. Jason looked over at Celesta and at that precise moment, she looked
up and saw him staring. A flicker of recognition crossed her beautiful face.
She whispered something to her sisters, who immediately glanced over at
Jason. Feeling slightly embarrassed under their scrutinous gazes, he could
feel the blush creeping up his neck. He looked back at the dance floor,
where Oliver and Alison were still doing their comical dance, and the next
thing he knew, a sultry voice from somewhere near his ear whispered, 'You
know, somehow it doesn't surprise me that those two are together.'
Jason looked up in surprise to see Celesta standing next to him and gazing
at Alison and Oliver, a look of envy in her eyes. She grabbed his hand and
led him over to the table where her sisters were sitting and introduced them
to Jason. Jason noticed that all three sisters had raven black locks and
pale skin. But while Celesta had green eyes, Catalina had startlingly blue
eyes and Calista had smoky gray eyes. of the three, Catalina was the tallest
and then Celesta and Calista were about the same height. They were all
tremendously beautiful, with their long slender legs and their narrow
waists.
He had just begun to talk to Celesta when Alison caught sight of Celesta.
She grinned widely and dragged Oliver over to where Jason and the Weird
sisters were sitting. Celesta jumped out of her chair and gave Alison a huge
hug, before pecking Oliver on the cheek. As the night grew old, the
Puddlemere United team clustered around the Weird sisters to listen to
Celesta and Jason's account of the dance competition.
*****
The next morning, when Alison awoke, she found that Oliver had already left
for practice. A little miffed that he hadn't woken her up to say goodbye,
she rolled out of bed and slouched into the bathroom for a shower. The
knowledge that she was all alone was incredibly liberating, and for the
first time in a while, she began to sing in the shower, using the showerhead
as a mike. It was only when the water began to get cold that she decided
that her shower had obviously gone on long enough. She got out of the
shower, wrapped a towel around herself and then walked into the kitchen to
make herself a cup of tea. She very nearly didn't notice them at all as she
walked through the living room. In fact, had one of them not cleared their
throat, she would not have known of their presence. As it was, when she
heard someone clearing their throat, not five feet away from her, she
screamed and turned on the person. Her mouth dropped open as she saw who was
sitting on her coach. The Weird Sisters were sitting in her living room.
She yelped loudly and clutched her towel tighter around her. The three
sisters looked more than a little alarmed. After a few awkwardly silent
seconds, Celesta muttered, 'we're soooo sorry…we didn't mean to startle you,
but Oliver told us to just come in and wait.'
Recovering from the shock, Alison smiled weakly and said that it was all
right. She scurried off to the bedroom, and two minutes later, she
reappeared, this time wearing a pair of faded jeans and an oversized shirt.
She sat down on the couch opposite the famous singers and said, 'So…what
brings you here?'
'Oh, we were getting a bit bored…we have a three day break before our next
concert, so we thought we'd come and see you.'
'Wicked! Ok, there's a whole bunch of things we can do…we can go shopping,
but I expect the shopping here is nothing compared to London. We could go
watch the practice and if we ask nicely, Jason might let us join in…' Alison
trailed off as she saw the look pass between the three sisters. A little
puzzled, she enquired 'What's the matter? Is something wrong?'
Catalina cleared her throat and then replied, 'We heard you singing in the
shower…'
'Oh, sorry about that…I thought that I was alone.'
'I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you've got a spectacular
voice.'
A little startled, Alison groped for words but couldn't find any. So
Catalina continued, 'originally, we just came here to hang out, you know,
pass the time, but now…we have an offer for you, a career proposition, if
you will…we were wondering if perhaps you have ever considered a career as a
singer.'
'WHAT?!?!?!?!'
Calista interjected, 'You certainly look the part, and from what Celesta
tells us, you're an incredibly dancer.'
'Yeah…and we'd be more than happy to give your career a bit of a jump
start…we're looking for another singer to help us with our latest single and
from what we just heard while you were in the shower, you would be perfect,
' added Celesta.
Alison looked at the three singers seated opposite her with a look of shock
on her face. In an incredulous voice, she asked, 'Ok, let me get this
straight…you want me to sing on your latest album?? Are you sure you're not
pulling my leg?'
But as she looked at their straight faces that were completely without any
signs that might suggest they were joking, she knew they were being totally
serious in their proposition. Alison let out a deep breath and then said,
'I'm going to make myself some milk…would you like some tea or coffee…or
something?'
'No, not really…Alison, we need to know soon. Because otherwise, we're going
to have to scrap the single…and we don't want to do that. It has great
potential.'
Alison hesitated for a few seconds, and then replied, 'ok…I'll try to do it,
but maybe my voice only works in the shower or something…'
The three sisters bust out laughing at this ridiculous suggestion. After
trying to look slightly affronted, Alison finally gave up and began to laugh
too. When they had calmed down again, Alison nodded her head and said, 'I'll
do it…when do I start??'
'We're meeting our manager for lunch. Why don't you come along? Obviously
he'll want to hear you sing, so after lunch maybe you could come to the
recording studio or something…just for a trial, of course,' replied
Catalina.
'No problem…I'll be ready in five minutes.'
Alison was just walking back into her bedroom to change, when the three
singers got up and insisted on helping her get dressed. They insisted that
she had to make a really good impression on their manager.
Half an hour later, Alison was ready. She was wearing a pair of tight black
jeans that emphasized her long slender legs and a blood red turtleneck top
that offset the chocolate brown colour of her skin. Even though she would
never admit it to anyone, she was feeling terribly nervous. She had always
enjoyed singing, but she had never considered becoming a singer. And then
there was the fact that everything was going so fast…she hadn't even had
time to tell Oliver.
*****
When Oliver finished practice, the sun was just setting. Quickly, he
changed into a pair of old jeans and then strolled home. He unlocked the
door and pushed it open. Immediately, he was struck by the tomblike silence
inside. Slightly worried, he shut the door behind him and then yelled
'Alison…I'm home!!'
When Alison didn't respond, he felt the first flutters of panic within his
stomach. He rushed into the bedroom, and to his immense relief, he found her
lying on the bed, dressed in a pair of jeans and a red top. He sat down next
to her, and kissed her lips gently. She moaned softly and her eyelids
fluttered open. When she saw Oliver, she smiled up at him. Wrapping her arms
around his neck, she pulled him lower, until their noses were practically
touching. She pressed her lips firmly against his and pulled him closer
still until he was lying on top of her. *Explanations can wait,* she thought
to herself.
Later that night, as the two of them lay beneath the covers, Alison decided
that it was time to tell Oliver what had happened that day. Oliver was in
the middle of telling her about practice, but he soon realized that she
wasn't paying too much attention to him. Propping himself up on his hand, he
smiled down at Alison and murmured, 'Go on then, I know you want to tell me
something.'
Alison smiled inwardly…somehow Oliver always knew when she had something on
her mind. trying to ignore his fingers that were now caressing her legs, she
took a deep breath and then said, 'Oliver, I got a job offer…from the Weird
Sisters. They heard me singing in the shower and they offered me a
contract.'
Oliver looked at her as if she had gone mad, and said, 'you're joking,
right?!'
Alison shook her head and continued, 'No…I talked to their manager…I had the
trial as well, and then he gave me the contract…it's on the table.'
Oliver jumped out of bed and walked over to the table. He picked up the
official looking contract and stared at it for what seemed like an eternity.
Then finally, he looked over at Alison, his eyes sparkling with excitement
and exclaimed., 'This is really a contract…an actual contract to sing a
single with the Weird Sisters. Do you know how huge this is???'
Alison laughed with relief when she realized that she couldn't have asked
for a more supportive and positive response. In response, she told Oliver,
'The recording is tomorrow…I have the music and the lyrics and I've pretty
much learnt my part…its just that I am so nervous. this is going way too
fast…shouldn't I think this over…maybe talk to dad about this…'
'Don't worry about Sirius, I'll tell him. He'll probably come running down
here to congratulate you. Now go to sleep…you've got a big day tomorrow.'
Oliver crept back under the covers and snuggled against Alison's warm body.
He wrapped his muscular arms around her and pulled her close to him. Alison
sighed contentedly and the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep
was Oliver's fingers caressing the length of her back.