DISCLAIMER: Once again all thanks to J.K.Rowling, besides the storyline that is.

CHAPTER 3: Out in the open

It wasn't until a week later that I finally got to talk to Wood again. Seriously it seemed like people were making it a habit of avoiding me. He hardly talked to me during practise and I never saw him around the school. I hardly saw anymore of Cedric either. Turns out he was the new seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team which means I had to play against him but it also meant that he was forever at practises. It seems Hufflepuff practise quite a bit more than we did, as he never had any time.

Anyway it was just after another one of our practises that I caught Wood. He was just leaving for the showers.

"Wood, wait up" I called jogging over to him.

"What do you want Johnson?" he muttered.

"I want you to tell me what's going on," I demanded.

"I don't know. Maybe you should tell me" he said looking at me angrily.

"Wood, this is unfair. What are you talking about?"

"Look Angie, I just don't understand why you are even still talking to that creep." He said fiercely.

"Who?" Now I was even more confused.

"It's probably none of my business but if I were in your position I would have dumped that foul, no good Diggory in a second." I gasped. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"You know what Wood, your right." He looked surprised. "It isn't any of your business!" I shot at him. "What gives you the idea that you can talk about Cedric like that?" Now it was my turn to be angry.

"Well maybe it's just me but I certainly wouldn't want to be with someone who was cheating on me!"

Silence. All my breath had escaped from my throat. I was frozen. I just looked, shocked, into his eyes searching desperately for a sign to tell me Wood was joking. Nothing. He looked back at me, dead serious.

"Cheating on me?" I managed to utter. "He's cheating on me? Who? When? How?" I had an overwhelming sense of disgust, as though I was going to throw up. I looked at Wood in time to see his expression change from anger into concern.

"Oh Angie, please tell me you knew," he said stepping close to me. I could feel the tears building in my eyes. How could he do that to me? It all seemed to make sense now. The constant appointments, never having time for me, the unnatural amounts of Quidditch practises. How could I have been so blind?

"Angie I'm sorry. I thought you knew." I could see he didn't know what else to say. Before I could stop them the tears welled out of my eyes.

"Who?" was all I managed to say between the sobs.

"A girl named Gennifer. She's in Hufflepuff too now." Now? What did he mean by now?

"You don't mean she's a…" I couldn't even say it.

"Yeah she is. She came this year. With the rest of the first years. I'm so sorry Angie." If he said anything else, I couldn't hear him. I was crying so hard. I had never cried in front of anyone at school and now here I was letting the water works flow in front of Oliver Wood of all people. I just couldn't believe it. Cedric was going behind my back with a first year!

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I stammered.

"I only found out on the first day back. I was looking for the food trolley in the train and I overheard Diggory talking to another Hufflepuff about her. First I thought he meant you but he said how he had met her in Diagon Alley at the start of the holidays and then how she would be starting at Hogwarts this year. I've got to tell you Angie I almost went in there and beat him up but I thought that you must have already done that. I was sure you knew. Anyway when I saw you together I felt really mad and I couldn't understand why you were still together." He said trying to explain himself. Despite my sobbing I managed to catch most of it.

"Why didn't you just ask me about it?" I couldn't understand why he hadn't.

"Angie, you're one of the most reasonable people I know. I thought that you knew and that there was probably a good reason for why you were still with him. I mean, I would never have thought that Diggory would be the secretive kind."

"Well he did a good job of hiding his little piece of first year student from me. How could I have been so stupid?" Now I was crying hard again.

"Oh, Angie. You're not stupid." He said and walked up to me and put his arms around me. Normally I would have objected but at that moment I was too upset to care. He didn't say anything else, he just held me as I cried. He was so warm and I felt so safe. Slowly but surely I started to calm down.

Once I had stopped crying I was suddenly filled with rage instead of sadness.

"How many people knew about this?" I asked angrily.

"I'm not sure. His friends did but I don't think yours did otherwise you would have probably found out sooner. I'm sorry that it was me who had to break it to you." He said letting go of me. I suddenly felt how cold it was out here on the Quidditch pitch. I shivered.

"I think we should go inside Angie," Wood said picking his broom up. I grabbed mine and started to walk back up to the castle. At the door I turned to him.

"I'm sorry about being such a mess out there," I apologised.

"It was nothing Johnson. Again I'm sorry about what happened" he said looking in my eyes.

"It's not you who has to be sorry," I insisted. "It's Cedric!"

~:~

Yeah finally a bit of Wood! And no more Cedric. What a bastard! (Sorry to all you Cedric fans out there). Hope it was alright, please send me your thoughts. Thanks you all! Please, I really need to know what you think and whether I should continue the story. Please review!!! Love always L.A.*