Chapter Two
A/N: First of all, thank you all my reviewers for overlooking all my mistakes and giving me so kind reviews! You really make my day! I'm sorry if you thought it took a long time for me to post this chapter, but I've been really busy with school. I'm a grind and study a lot, so I don't have much time to write. I've also had lack of imagination, so I've rewritten this chapter about 10 times! I hope you'll like the final version, though. The following chapters might take longer to write, but I'll try to hurry up as much as I can. =0) Well, enough fiddle-de-dee from me now, here comes chapter two...
Later that evening, when Hermione was in bed, she tried to figure out why she had reacted so strangely when she had talked to Oliver earlier. Well, it wasn't so strange after all; she couldn't deny that he had charm, and a wonderful smile and... Stop it! she thought. I'm acting like I'm in love with him! But I can't be, can I? Of course not, he's my friend and it doesn't matter how great looking he is. I was just taken by his charm, that's all. Besides, he would never like someone like me.
She was a grind and boys didn't like girls like her, but employers did. That was all that mattered now; she had to study hard, so she'd get good grades and be able to get a good job after school. All right, no need to worry about that anymore, she thought, and tried to sleep. It wasn't easy, though, since Parvati and Lavender were discussing how they would wear their hair and make up next day. She couldn't help but overhearing the conversation.
"Oh, isn't it great that Oliver is our new teacher?" Lavender said excitedly. "I've had a crush on him for ages."
"Yes, I really hope that I won't have a 'bad- hair- day' tomorrow," Parvati said, if possible, even more excitedly. "It needs to be perfect. Do you know any spell that can make my hair stay sleek when I fly? I don't want it to go all frizzy."
Hermione tried hard not to laugh. Thank goodness that I'm not like them, she thought. I refuse to ever become that fussy!
The weather next day was perfect for flying. Hermione, Harry and Ron were chatting gladly when they walked to the Quidditch pitch. All three of them were very expectant at the prospect of their first flying lesson with Oliver. Hermione saw Malfoy stand on the pitch and frowned. He grinned evilly as he talked with Crabbe and Goyle, and gesticulated wildly with his hands.
"I hope Malfoy won't try to sabotage Oliver's first lesson," she said concernedly. "It would be typical of him if he did."
"Come on, Hermione," said Ron, "don't think of HIM of all people now." "We've all been looking forward to this, so don't let that bully worry you."
"Okay, you're right," she said and smiled. "I'm just being paranoid as usual."
Oliver arrived just after and was met by applauds from the Gryffindors and all the Slytherin girls. Malfoy looked like he wanted to kill Pansy Parkinson and her gang, but they didn't notice, since they were too busy with staring at Oliver. Looks like Oliver's charm works on Slytherins too, Hermione thought. Then I can't blame myself too much.
"Thank you," he said and smiled, "but there's no need, really." "Oh, and you can call me Oliver and drop 'Mr. Wood', unless Snape is around. So, today I thought we'd play Quidditch. How about that?"
Loads of "Yes!" were heard.
"Good," he said. "The teams will be Gryffindor versus Slytherin."
Everybody went to get their brooms and started to fly up in the sky.
"Harry," he said when Harry was going to kick off from the ground, "can I have a word with you after the lesson?"
"Sure," Harry replied.
Harry played Seeker in the Gryffindor team and Hermione played Keeper, since everybody else refused to play that position. In the middle of the game, not a single ball had gotten past her, and everybody was surprised that the bookworm Hermione could be good at sports. Suddenly, Lavender's broom started to bounce up and down violently, and it looked like she could fall off any second. She panicked and screamed. Oliver flew to her side as fast as he could, and caught her just as she fell. When they were safe on the ground again, Lavender was so shocked that she started to cry.
"Oh, Oliver," she sobbed. "If it hadn't been for you I could have died! You saved my life! You're always going to be my hero."
"There, there!" he said comfortingly. "You're safe now."
Hermione looked at Malfoy and saw him look very pleased with himself. She suspected that he had put a spell on Lavender's broom, so it would bounce like that. That was really stupid of him! Lavender could have been seriously injured! But Pansy Parkinson, who was standing next to him, didn't look very happy.
"Just look at her," she said to her gang, looking contemptuously at Lavender. "She makes me want to puke. Does she really think that she can get Oliver by acting like that? I don't think so. Just watch me, and you'll learn the real way to get a guy hooked."
Please, Hermione thought and rolled her eyes, spare us that.
"Oliver," Pansy said and smiled, at the same time as she waved frenetically with her eyelashes, "it was really courageous of you to save her." She gave Lavender a disparaging look. "You should know that I think you're the world's greatest Quidditch player through the ages."
During the time she was saying that, she kept waving with her eyelashes, thinking it made her seem irresistible.
"Er," he said awkwardly, "have you gotten something in your eye?"
Hermione tried hard not to laugh at the sight of Pansy's facial expression, but had to turn around, since she didn't succeed. She wasn't the only one, though; all the Gryffindors laughed hysterically at Pansy's pathetic try to catch Oliver.
"Well," Oliver said and cleared his throat, "the lesson is over, so why don't you hurry to your next one?" "Hermione and Harry, I'd like to have a word with you before you leave."
Everybody went back inside except Hermione, Harry and Ron, who were extremely curious about what Oliver wanted to talk to them about.
"So," said Harry, "what was it you wanted to talk with us about?"
Oliver went scarlet and stared at his feet.
"I know that it's none of my business now," he said, "but I was just wondering who your new Quidditch captain is, and if you've found a new Keeper."
"It's Angelina," Harry said, "and no, we haven't found a new Keeper yet." "Angelina and I are going to hold try outs next week."
"Um," Oliver said awkwardly, "if you want to, I can help you at the try outs."
"Yes, that'd be great," said Harry and grinned, "we're going to need some help from an expert."
"Oh, I almost forgot," Oliver said and turned to Hermione, "Hermione, you were great as Keeper today." "Why don't you try out for the post?"
"Well," Hermione said embarrassedly, "I'm not so sure about that; it was just sheer luck today." "I'm not even interested in Quidditch."
"Tell you what then," he said, "why don't you meet me here at the pitch after dinner tonight, and I'll test you some more?" "Please... I really think you'd make a good Keeper in the Gryffindor team."
He looked at her with his wonderful brown eyes.
Who can resist those eyes, she thought.
"All right then," she said, "I'll come." "But it can't take too much time, you see, I have lots of homework to do."
"Great," he said, "then I'll see you after dinner!"
He walked away, but she couldn't take her eyes off him. She already longed for the evening to come, so she could go to the Quidditch pitch and meet Oliver.
Oliver was already at the pitch when she arrived. He was flying some laps around the hoops and waved when he saw her. She waved back and saw him fly down to her.
"Hi," he said when he was on the ground, "let's start at once." "I'll throw this balls at you non stop, and you'll try not to let them pass by."
Hermione just nodded and started to fly to the hoops.
He threw ball after ball and she made saves after saves. When he was convinced that she really should try out for the Keeper position, he stopped throwing and they flew to the ground.
"Hermione," Oliver said, impressed, "you're a real talent!" "You're definitely going to that try out, even if I have to force you! How come you're so good; you're Muggle-born, aren't you?"
"Yes," she said, "I am." "You see, I practiced karate (A/N: So did I, so you'd better watch out for me! LOL) before I started here at Hogwarts, so that might be a reason. It's a Muggle sport where you learn how to defend yourself."
"Yes, I know," he said, "my cousin practices karate too!" "My Mom is Muggle- born, just like you, so my cousin is a Muggle.
Then he blushed and stared at his feet.
"I'm sorry, he said, "but it's hard to picture that you've been practicing karate." "As far as I know, it's a rough sport, and you seem more like a girl who prefers books to sport."
"Well," she said, "this girl likes both books and karate." "Anyway, they taught us to always look in the eyes of the opponent when we fought; that way we'd always be prepared for what the opponent would do. That's what I did when you threw those balls. I looked into your eyes and knew where you would throw them. I practiced it for quite a long time, and took the second blue belt, so I got faster reflexes too." (A/N: Nobody probably cares, but I'm a green belt.)
"Wow," he said, "that's so cool that you've got blue belt in karate!" "My cousin only has the green belt. When I visit him he always does these movement patterns, it's called Kata, isn't it?"
"Yes," she replied, "it actually happens that I do some Katas when I'm alone in my dormitory." ''Karate and my parents are the only things I miss here now, since I've been able to bring my laptop with me this year. Um, Oliver, could you please not tell anybody about me having practiced karate? Nobody knows and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Sure," he said, "if that's what you want." "You will come to the try out next week, won't you? You're a real talent, and Gryffindor needs someone like you to be able to win the Quidditch House Cup."
"Okay," she said, "I'll come, but I don't think they'll choose me anyway." "There are loads of others who have been waiting to take over the Keeper position since you left."
"Hermione," he said seriously and looked straight into her eyes, "I know a talent when I see one."
A/N: So... what did you think? Please review and let me know, I would really appreciate it. If you review, you will make a girl who's suffering from stress (because of school; we have too many tests, so I must spend all the school breaks and weekends studying) happy. =0)
A/N: First of all, thank you all my reviewers for overlooking all my mistakes and giving me so kind reviews! You really make my day! I'm sorry if you thought it took a long time for me to post this chapter, but I've been really busy with school. I'm a grind and study a lot, so I don't have much time to write. I've also had lack of imagination, so I've rewritten this chapter about 10 times! I hope you'll like the final version, though. The following chapters might take longer to write, but I'll try to hurry up as much as I can. =0) Well, enough fiddle-de-dee from me now, here comes chapter two...
Later that evening, when Hermione was in bed, she tried to figure out why she had reacted so strangely when she had talked to Oliver earlier. Well, it wasn't so strange after all; she couldn't deny that he had charm, and a wonderful smile and... Stop it! she thought. I'm acting like I'm in love with him! But I can't be, can I? Of course not, he's my friend and it doesn't matter how great looking he is. I was just taken by his charm, that's all. Besides, he would never like someone like me.
She was a grind and boys didn't like girls like her, but employers did. That was all that mattered now; she had to study hard, so she'd get good grades and be able to get a good job after school. All right, no need to worry about that anymore, she thought, and tried to sleep. It wasn't easy, though, since Parvati and Lavender were discussing how they would wear their hair and make up next day. She couldn't help but overhearing the conversation.
"Oh, isn't it great that Oliver is our new teacher?" Lavender said excitedly. "I've had a crush on him for ages."
"Yes, I really hope that I won't have a 'bad- hair- day' tomorrow," Parvati said, if possible, even more excitedly. "It needs to be perfect. Do you know any spell that can make my hair stay sleek when I fly? I don't want it to go all frizzy."
Hermione tried hard not to laugh. Thank goodness that I'm not like them, she thought. I refuse to ever become that fussy!
The weather next day was perfect for flying. Hermione, Harry and Ron were chatting gladly when they walked to the Quidditch pitch. All three of them were very expectant at the prospect of their first flying lesson with Oliver. Hermione saw Malfoy stand on the pitch and frowned. He grinned evilly as he talked with Crabbe and Goyle, and gesticulated wildly with his hands.
"I hope Malfoy won't try to sabotage Oliver's first lesson," she said concernedly. "It would be typical of him if he did."
"Come on, Hermione," said Ron, "don't think of HIM of all people now." "We've all been looking forward to this, so don't let that bully worry you."
"Okay, you're right," she said and smiled. "I'm just being paranoid as usual."
Oliver arrived just after and was met by applauds from the Gryffindors and all the Slytherin girls. Malfoy looked like he wanted to kill Pansy Parkinson and her gang, but they didn't notice, since they were too busy with staring at Oliver. Looks like Oliver's charm works on Slytherins too, Hermione thought. Then I can't blame myself too much.
"Thank you," he said and smiled, "but there's no need, really." "Oh, and you can call me Oliver and drop 'Mr. Wood', unless Snape is around. So, today I thought we'd play Quidditch. How about that?"
Loads of "Yes!" were heard.
"Good," he said. "The teams will be Gryffindor versus Slytherin."
Everybody went to get their brooms and started to fly up in the sky.
"Harry," he said when Harry was going to kick off from the ground, "can I have a word with you after the lesson?"
"Sure," Harry replied.
Harry played Seeker in the Gryffindor team and Hermione played Keeper, since everybody else refused to play that position. In the middle of the game, not a single ball had gotten past her, and everybody was surprised that the bookworm Hermione could be good at sports. Suddenly, Lavender's broom started to bounce up and down violently, and it looked like she could fall off any second. She panicked and screamed. Oliver flew to her side as fast as he could, and caught her just as she fell. When they were safe on the ground again, Lavender was so shocked that she started to cry.
"Oh, Oliver," she sobbed. "If it hadn't been for you I could have died! You saved my life! You're always going to be my hero."
"There, there!" he said comfortingly. "You're safe now."
Hermione looked at Malfoy and saw him look very pleased with himself. She suspected that he had put a spell on Lavender's broom, so it would bounce like that. That was really stupid of him! Lavender could have been seriously injured! But Pansy Parkinson, who was standing next to him, didn't look very happy.
"Just look at her," she said to her gang, looking contemptuously at Lavender. "She makes me want to puke. Does she really think that she can get Oliver by acting like that? I don't think so. Just watch me, and you'll learn the real way to get a guy hooked."
Please, Hermione thought and rolled her eyes, spare us that.
"Oliver," Pansy said and smiled, at the same time as she waved frenetically with her eyelashes, "it was really courageous of you to save her." She gave Lavender a disparaging look. "You should know that I think you're the world's greatest Quidditch player through the ages."
During the time she was saying that, she kept waving with her eyelashes, thinking it made her seem irresistible.
"Er," he said awkwardly, "have you gotten something in your eye?"
Hermione tried hard not to laugh at the sight of Pansy's facial expression, but had to turn around, since she didn't succeed. She wasn't the only one, though; all the Gryffindors laughed hysterically at Pansy's pathetic try to catch Oliver.
"Well," Oliver said and cleared his throat, "the lesson is over, so why don't you hurry to your next one?" "Hermione and Harry, I'd like to have a word with you before you leave."
Everybody went back inside except Hermione, Harry and Ron, who were extremely curious about what Oliver wanted to talk to them about.
"So," said Harry, "what was it you wanted to talk with us about?"
Oliver went scarlet and stared at his feet.
"I know that it's none of my business now," he said, "but I was just wondering who your new Quidditch captain is, and if you've found a new Keeper."
"It's Angelina," Harry said, "and no, we haven't found a new Keeper yet." "Angelina and I are going to hold try outs next week."
"Um," Oliver said awkwardly, "if you want to, I can help you at the try outs."
"Yes, that'd be great," said Harry and grinned, "we're going to need some help from an expert."
"Oh, I almost forgot," Oliver said and turned to Hermione, "Hermione, you were great as Keeper today." "Why don't you try out for the post?"
"Well," Hermione said embarrassedly, "I'm not so sure about that; it was just sheer luck today." "I'm not even interested in Quidditch."
"Tell you what then," he said, "why don't you meet me here at the pitch after dinner tonight, and I'll test you some more?" "Please... I really think you'd make a good Keeper in the Gryffindor team."
He looked at her with his wonderful brown eyes.
Who can resist those eyes, she thought.
"All right then," she said, "I'll come." "But it can't take too much time, you see, I have lots of homework to do."
"Great," he said, "then I'll see you after dinner!"
He walked away, but she couldn't take her eyes off him. She already longed for the evening to come, so she could go to the Quidditch pitch and meet Oliver.
Oliver was already at the pitch when she arrived. He was flying some laps around the hoops and waved when he saw her. She waved back and saw him fly down to her.
"Hi," he said when he was on the ground, "let's start at once." "I'll throw this balls at you non stop, and you'll try not to let them pass by."
Hermione just nodded and started to fly to the hoops.
He threw ball after ball and she made saves after saves. When he was convinced that she really should try out for the Keeper position, he stopped throwing and they flew to the ground.
"Hermione," Oliver said, impressed, "you're a real talent!" "You're definitely going to that try out, even if I have to force you! How come you're so good; you're Muggle-born, aren't you?"
"Yes," she said, "I am." "You see, I practiced karate (A/N: So did I, so you'd better watch out for me! LOL) before I started here at Hogwarts, so that might be a reason. It's a Muggle sport where you learn how to defend yourself."
"Yes, I know," he said, "my cousin practices karate too!" "My Mom is Muggle- born, just like you, so my cousin is a Muggle.
Then he blushed and stared at his feet.
"I'm sorry, he said, "but it's hard to picture that you've been practicing karate." "As far as I know, it's a rough sport, and you seem more like a girl who prefers books to sport."
"Well," she said, "this girl likes both books and karate." "Anyway, they taught us to always look in the eyes of the opponent when we fought; that way we'd always be prepared for what the opponent would do. That's what I did when you threw those balls. I looked into your eyes and knew where you would throw them. I practiced it for quite a long time, and took the second blue belt, so I got faster reflexes too." (A/N: Nobody probably cares, but I'm a green belt.)
"Wow," he said, "that's so cool that you've got blue belt in karate!" "My cousin only has the green belt. When I visit him he always does these movement patterns, it's called Kata, isn't it?"
"Yes," she replied, "it actually happens that I do some Katas when I'm alone in my dormitory." ''Karate and my parents are the only things I miss here now, since I've been able to bring my laptop with me this year. Um, Oliver, could you please not tell anybody about me having practiced karate? Nobody knows and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Sure," he said, "if that's what you want." "You will come to the try out next week, won't you? You're a real talent, and Gryffindor needs someone like you to be able to win the Quidditch House Cup."
"Okay," she said, "I'll come, but I don't think they'll choose me anyway." "There are loads of others who have been waiting to take over the Keeper position since you left."
"Hermione," he said seriously and looked straight into her eyes, "I know a talent when I see one."
A/N: So... what did you think? Please review and let me know, I would really appreciate it. If you review, you will make a girl who's suffering from stress (because of school; we have too many tests, so I must spend all the school breaks and weekends studying) happy. =0)