Fixing to Fly
Chapter Six
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"It's about time you joined us, oh Quidditch Queen," announced Keely as Darcy sat down beside her at the Gryffindor table. A plate of eggs and bacon was immediately thrust before her, accompanied by a glass of buttermilk. Darcy stared skeptically down at the grease-laden food.
"What, no pork rinds?" she queried with sarcasm.
Keely only grinned back at her. "Nope. Ate those up first so you couldn't have any," the Scot said and jammed a dripping strip of bacon into her mouth with relish.
Nose wrinkled in disgust, the blonde reached past her friend for a plate of cinnamon-raison english muffins and apple butter. "Do you really think that's such a good idea, eating all that crap?" she asked as she buttered her muffin. "Last time you ate a huge breakfast like that, we ended up having Potions as our first class and you puked pancakes and ham all over Snape. He took points off Gryffindor every day for the next six weeks because of that."
"It's okay this year," Keely answered around a mouthful of oatmeal. "I've got Care of Magical Creatures first thing today." She waved a piece of parchment at Darcy, her schedule for the year. "Oh yeah, and I've got yours, too. Lucky little prat, you've got a free period for first class this morning." The brunette produced a second slip of parchment from her bag and thrust it into Darcy's hands.
"Good, maybe I'll actually get a chance to do more than hover on my Nimbus yet this morning," she muttered to herself as she jammed the paper into the pocket of her robes after giving it a quick glance.
"What's that?" asked Keely.
"Nothing. Never mind." Darcy selected a ripe green apple from a nearby bowl and was crunching contentedly on it when Brian dropped down beside her. Tiny shadows had appeared under his eyes from the previous late night, but his visage was wide awake as he flashed her a brilliant smile.
"Glad to see you're still alive and breathing," he said, then in a lower tone, "So is the play finally over or did you just finish another intermission?"
This was the way they'd taken to talking about Darcy and Kotter's relationship when they weren't alone; Darcy considered the metaphor to be stunningly accurate. "Apparently there's yet another act left in the drama that is my life," she related with a weary sigh, watching as Brian's hopeful expression fell. "Trust me, no one is more surprised then I am; I seriously thought last night would be the end of it."
He took her hands within his own. "I'm sorry, Darcy. I know how tired you are of it all."
"Yeah, not to mention absolutely stupid for not putting my foot down and ending it myself." She sighed again, rubbed at the bridge of her nose where a headache was trying to form. "But I know unless he's the one to end it, I'll never get away from him. He'll just keep coming back and harassing me and it'll end up being worse than it is now."
"You don't have to explain to me, babes, I know it." Smiling, Brian swept a lock of gold off her brow. "Merlin knows how strong you are."
Finally she allowed herself to return the smile. "Or how foolish. But I digress. While we're on the subject of fools, where is Kotter anyway? I would've imagined he'd be down here with me practically in a headlock to show the world I'm still his possession." She failed to miss the twinge of bitterness in her own voice.
"Bugged out early, before you walked in. Couldn't tell you where he went," he said with a shrug, then glanced at his watch. "Damn, I've got to get going. First class is Advanced Divination and it'll take me at least ten minutes to get to the North Tower." As he collected his books, he added, "Not that it really matters, of course. Before I left last year, Professor Trelawny predicted I'd be late seventy-two times this year."
"And you actually believe that old bat?" came Keely's voice from Darcy's other side.
Brian shrugged. "Not really. But I'd hate to disappoint her." He flashed the two girls a mischievous smile that instantly had them laughing. "Come on, Keely. While some of us—ahem, Darcy—have the luxury of a free period this morning, the rest of us minions have to get to class. We'll see you later, DC."
"See you in Charms for second class!" called Keely as they left the Great Hall.
The breakfast crowd had thinned out significantly, with only those students like herself who had first class free lingering to enjoy a few last quiet minutes. Grabbing a last bite of english muffin and a sip of orange juice, Darcy gathered her own belongings and started back towards the dorms, intent on getting to the Quidditch pitch once more. It felt like ages since she'd been able to practice with the Snitch… alright, maybe only a few days. She was sharing a secret smile with herself as she crossed the Entrance Hall when a voice from behind called her name.
"Darcy! Wait up!"
She turned to see Oliver Wood sprinting towards her, two books balanced under the same arm that he'd carried the Quaffle with only a few hours earlier. Patiently she waited till he joined her, panting and puffing. "Thanks," he gasped. "Mind if I walk with you?"
"I'm just headed for the common room," she said with a shrug.
"That's fine. On my way to Transfigurations," Oliver replied, indicating one of the books he held. Raising a curious eyebrow, she decided not to mention that the Transfigurations classroom was in the exact opposite direction. They had walked in silence for a few moments before he said, "So, how's your morning been?"
"Early." She laughed, giving her hair a playful toss.
He flashed a smile at her, and for the first time Darcy noted he stood about three inches over her own 5'6". "Yeah, crawling out of bed this morning was particularly nasty," he agreed, easily keeping step with her as they climbed the stairs side by side. "Definitely going to have to skip out on the late night tonight."
"Tell me about it." Her argument with Kotter made an instant replay in her mind.
"Um, Darcy…" Oliver began, looking wholly uncomfortable and refusing to meet her gaze as they waited for their staircase to finish moving. "Can I talk to you about something?"
She'd been bracing herself against the banister to keep from falling as the staircase shimmied and jolted its way around; now her fingers tightened on the railing as she decided he must've seen her that morning after all. She quickly formulated an excuse in her mind as she told him, "You can talk to me about anything, Wood, you know that."
Gaze fixed on his shoes, he picked at a loose string on his robes as he said, "Well, um… last night, I was… it was late, and I wasn't really sleepy, and I thought everyone had gone up to bed… I was going down to the common room, to sit in front of the fire, you know? And I, um… er, well, I, ah, I saw you and, um… Kotter? Is that his name? Yeah, Kotter. I saw you two, and I was getting ready to head back upstairs when, um… well, I… I heard, um…"
"You heard our argument," finished Darcy, as a strange wave of relief washed over her.
"I'm really sorry if I got you into any trouble yesterday and I'm sorry I was eavesdropping on your conversation, but I didn't want to move in case I made any noise and you heard me and then he would've gotten even more angry at you, and I didn't mean to—"
Before he could ramble on too long, she quickly interrupted him. "Oliver, Oliver! It's okay, I don't care if you heard us. I'm just sorry you had to listen to… to those things Kotter said." She thought for a moment, then added, "Not that what I said was very nice either."
His head was still bowed, but he finally looked her in the eye. "You didn't sound like you were too happy, if you don't mind me saying," he said softly.
A sad sort of smile touched her lips. "No, I suppose I didn't."
Oliver opened his mouth as if to speak, then apparently thought better of it. Instead he told her, "I, um, I know that you said I can talk to you about anything… but I want you to know that, well… that it works both ways." He was gazing deeply into her eyes now, his guileless features the picture of sincerity. "If you need someone to talk to anytime… I'd be more than willing to listen. If you want."
Once again, Darcy found herself amazed by the fourth-year she barely knew, and again she felt guilty that this was the first chance she'd gotten to know him. She grinned beautifully up at him, bringing a flush to the younger boy's cheeks. "That's really sweet of you," she said, "and I may just take you up on that. But you're going to be late to class if you don't get going now."
"Yeah, guess so," agreed the fourth-year, but he was smiling now too. "I'll see you later."
"Sure. Why don't you sit by me at lunch? I still need to talk to you about Quidditch try-outs next week, and I'll introduce you to the rest of the team, if you don't know them already. Is that okay with you?"
Oliver brightened. "Yeah, sure."
Waving at him as she turned down the corridor to the common room and he headed off toward Transfigurations, she realized that she was suddenly looking very forward to lunch.