Title: Sweet Dreams
Summary: Oliver Wood goes to Hogwarts for his seventh year not wanting anything except the Quidditch Cup. But when he discovers a girl he's never noticed before, he longs for more than just a Quidditch victory. OWOC. Rating will change.
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Chapter Two
Oliver seated himself in the Great Hall and was just about to serve himself some sausage when Fred Weasley nudged him.
"Schedules," he explained, handing Oliver a stack over the breakfast dishes. "So what about that girl last night on the train…haven't noticed her before."
Oliver nodded absently, flipping through the papers to find his name. He was trying not to think of the Hogwarts Express, and was a bit ashamed of himself for his forward manner when the dementor passed by. When he did think of it, his stomach dropped a bit. Seeing "Wood, Oliver" on the top of a card, he handed the sheaf over the table to George, who was seated across from him, beside his little brother Ron, and Ron's friend Harry.
"So you didn't say much last night…awfully quiet," commented Fred lowly, still pushing the subject of the girl.
"Yeah, well, I didn't have much to say."
Fred quirked an eyebrow at him and shoveled some eggs into his mouth. Malfoy was doing swooning impressions over at the Slytherin table, and George was assuring Harry and Ron that he had not been so brave when he came running into their compartment on the train.
"Anyway," said Fred, picking up on the conversation. "We'll see how happy Malfoy looks after our first Quidditch match. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first game of the season, remember?"
Oliver felt better, thinking of Quidditch, but it also made him feel shaky. This was his last year at Hogwarts…he wanted to cup so bad he could taste it.
He glanced at Harry, who was spooning fried tomatoes onto his plate, looking more cheerful. Harry was the Seeker for the Gryffindor team, and had, so far, not lost the team a match. Oliver could see himself with the Quidditch cup, holding it high. His hand trembled a bit as he dipped some eggs onto his own plate. Excitement and nervousness blossomed in his chest.
To get his mind off the season that hadn't even started yet, Oliver glanced at his schedule. He had Charms first, with Slytherin, and then Herbology with Hufflepuff. Then lunch. Then Transfiguration with Ravenclaw and Care of Magical Creatures with Slytherin again.
"Oy! Alice!" called George. Alice and Penelope had stood up from their table and were about to head out of the Great Hall.
Alice glanced over, and smiled.
"Come on, Penny," Alice said coaxingly to Penelope, who looked a bit torn about Alice's friendship with Percy's boisterous brothers. "You have to get your good quill back from Percy anyway." Penny nodded but looked reluctant. They headed over to the Gryffindor table where Fred and George were waving.
"Did you have a good sleep?" questioned George.
"Yes, I did. I trust your sleep was filled with dreams of me?" Alice laughed, and so did the twins.
"Why Oliver, you're going a bit red!" exclaimed Fred incredulously. Oliver had indeed gone slightly pink, and his eyes were fixed on his bacon.
There was a round of laughter and Fred winked at Alice. "George might not have had any dreams, but it looks like Oliver did."
Oliver darkened another shade and pushed his bacon around on his plate. He could feel eyes on him, and forced himself to look up and meet the pondering, clear-eyed gaze of Alice.
She grinned at him. He managed to smile back. There was an awkward moment where no one said anything. Oliver couldn't deny having a dream, but he didn't exactly want to share it with the whole Gryffindor table.
"So what's on your schedule, Oliver?" Alice said, breaking the silence and deftly changing the subject.
Oliver was relieved as the occupants of the table jumped back into motion again. Penny began to question Percy, Fred and George began to talk to Ron, and Alice was looking right at him.
"Oh! Er, I have Transfiguration with you, it looks like."
Oliver handed her his schedule. Alice glanced at it. "Ah yes, McGonagall's N.E.W.T. Transfiguration class." She made a face. "Should be fun…well, at least we're in it together."
"Yeah," Oliver said vaguely, taking the proffered schedule and cramming it into his bag. "Well…see you there, I suppose."
Students everywhere were standing and moving, signaling the end of breakfast and the start of classes. Alice and Penny headed in one direction, and Oliver quickly caught up with Fred and George.
"So what was that dream about, Oliver?" George questioned slyly. They were standing in the entrance to the Great Hall, about to part ways for their different classes.
"It was nothing," Oliver said shortly, heaving his bag onto his shoulder. "I didn't have a dream."
"Oliver?" Fred said sweetly.
"Yes?"
"You are the worst liar I have ever seen."
"Class!" said McGonagall sharply. The seventh years were busy chattering away about the start of classes, and catching up on summer news. But they went quiet as she resumed her place in front of the neatly paired desks.
"Welcome, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, to my N.E.W.T. Transfiguration Preparation Course. You will have to study hard and pay attention, or you will not pass the final. I will not put up with troublemakers in this class. You shall respect me as well as your classmates." She pulled out a piece of rolled parchment. "When I call your name, please state 'present' and seat yourself alphabetically…Adaget, Polly…Abuld, Royce…"
She proceeded through the list, and the students shuffled their things and moved to where she indicated. Alice did some quick calculations and determined that she would be sitting between Oliver Wood and Percy Weasley.
Sure enough. "Weasley, Percy…Whiting, Alice…Wood, Oliver." McGonagall rolled up the parchment and bade them all take out Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven.
Alice was reading page two, paragraph six ("from inanimate to animate—the complexities of giving life to objects"), but was finding that being in very close proximity to Oliver was difficult. As the desks were in rows of two, she was seated beside Oliver. And since they shared the same working space, their elbows would often bump, or their shoulders rub against each other. Alice wondered if he noticed these small things that distracted her so. She had read the same sentence several times, but hadn't taken in a word of it. Oliver did not seem to be having problems concentrating, however.
McGonagall's voice cut into Alice's thoughts. "I expect you shall be finished now. Inanimate to animate is something you should have learned early on at Hogwarts, but you will find the level of difficulty increases drastically during the N.E.W.T.s. So, books away, wands out."
Alice put her book away, though she had not made it past the first sentence of the paragraph. McGonagall had called upon Polly Adaget to pass out paper clips, which McGonagall informed them they would be transfiguring into vole rats. A few people scoffed.
"It will not be so easy when we move beyond introductions," she said severely.
Alice stared at her paper clip, and then at her wand. Transfiguration had always been one of her best subjects, but she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of the class…who was she kidding? She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Oliver. He, too, was preparing to transfigure his paper clip. And though they both murmured the incantation simultaneously, there were different results. Alice's paper clip became a little vole rat that began to scurry along the desk. She trapped it with her hands and looked to see Oliver's progress.
He laughed shortly, and with no humor. "There is no way I am going to pass this class, much less score well on the N.E.W.T.s." Oliver said, more to himself than Alice. He looked dejectedly at his work. The paper clip had enlarged a fair amount, and had gray hair, but was still shaped curiously. He said the incantation again, and the wire seemed to fatten a bit. After one more try, he managed a vole rat.
McGonagall was walking between the desks holding a cage. "Nice job, Mr. Weasley, first try, I see. And you too, Miss Whiting, not bad at all. Mr. Wood, tut tut. The tail is still wire. Well, there's always room for improvement…"
Oliver stared at his desk dejectedly, and would not meet Alice's gaze. The rest of the class passed in a hurry, and soon the students were packing up their books.
"To be turned in next Monday…copy the chart on page seven in your text books. Explain the process of the wire becoming a breathing animal. Nine inches of parchment. Class dismissed."
"Hey Oliver! Wait up!"
Oliver turned to see Alice bouncing down the corridor. She was petite to be seventeen, and was having some trouble pushing through the crowd. "Yes?" he said without emotion. Transfiguration had set him in a very cloudy mood.
"Where are you headed?" she said, with a sunny smile on her face. They had some free time before dinner that was often used for walking the grounds, doing homework, or hanging with mates.
Oliver shrugged. "I thought I'd work out some plays for the upcoming Quidditch season." His voice was nonchalant. Oliver's legs were a fair amount longer than Alice's, and she was walking very fast to keep up. He didn't slow down.
"That's nice." She looked a little dejected, but her voice remained cheery. "Well, see you at dinner." And she disappeared in the crowd. Oliver frowned and made his way up to the common room. It was quite a strange interaction. By the time he got to the painted lady, he was kicking himself (and that is a hard thing to do) for not being friendlier.
"Just because I was in a bad mood because I'm awful at Transfiguration, I ruined what could have been a nice talk…" he muttered to himself as he climbed the dormitory stairs to get his model of the Quidditch field.
Alice sat in the Ravenclaw common room, re-copying her Potions essay and talking with Penelope.
"So how was your first day of classes?" Penny asked, looking over star charts.
"Not bad, not bad. I'm sitting beside Oliver in Transfiguration."
Penny made a face. "I'm sitting beside Michael Cimmons. He's really not that nice, you know. Made a nasty comment about my vole rat looking more like a field mouse. What does he know, after all?"
Alice nodded, noticing that Penny had not picked up on her comment about Oliver. "Penny, what is the third ingredient you have to add to Polyjuice Potion?"
"Lacewings."
"Right."
Alice decided to try again. "Oliver's a good working partner. He's not exactly the best at Transfiguration, though."
"Hmm," Penny mumbled. "Then why is he in a N.E.W.T. class?"
"Dunno…maybe he's a bit rusty." Alice desperately needed Penelope to say something…anything, about Oliver.
"You should tutor him, Alice," Penny said matter-of-factly. She was still studying her star chart. "Transfiguration is your best subject, and you obviously fancy him."
Alice resented the fact that Penny had not even looked up from her charts. She hated that Penny had such a realistic view on life…Couldn't she say something that did not make sense for once…something crazy and fun, suggest something off the wall, do something besides her homework. Then Alice stopped. Penelope was her best friend. She was just being a bit corrupted by her pompous boyfriend.
"I do not fancy him," Alice said defensively, still a bit hurt at her friend's lack of interest.
"Yes you do," Penny said, now carefully labeling planets.
"I'm going to bed." Alice declared.
"Goodnight, then."
The truth of the matter was that Alice had thought of tutoring him, but somehow, his demeanor in the hall had discouraged her. Plus, she would have to suggest that he wasn't very good at Transfiguration, and she didn't want to make anyone angry.
She changed into her blue-striped pajamas and crawled into her four-poster. It was early, and none of the other girls had come up from the common room. Alice stared upwards for a little while before she drifted into a dream-filled sleep.
A/N: Thanks to everyone for reviewing! Sorry this chapter has taken so long, and I hope you weren't to bored!
Thanks to Anaili, Tokyo Nights, Starlightgerl, soccer-bitch, oOoELOoOo, Jayne1, Celebrimiel Hirilaure, and Blue Firefly for the sweet reviews and support! As always, any helpful critiquing will always be appreciated, so R&R!
Love,
Aerianaa