The Closest Thing-Chapter # Unknown: The Accidental Drug Induced Escapades of Mr. Oliver James Wood.
"You're the beauty that is deeper, than eyes can merely see. The closest thing to perfect, but the farthest thing from me." The great Oliver Wood finds the girl of his dreams the only problem is she despises him. Can he win her over or will she forever judge him by his faults instead of the beauty the lies beneath?OW/OC
Disclaimer: I do not own anything about this except for those characters, places, and themes not present in any of JKR's books
A/N: Oh yeah! Time for a new POV groupies! We're not going to talk about how long it bloody took to get this thing out, I've got some personal issues all my own. In any case welcome to the mind of the one and only Oliver James Wood. (don't know if that's his real middle name but with all deductions made that is what he shall be named.) Excuse me if I start to sound unlike a boy I have never written from a male's perspective.
Oliver POV
At breakfast I started reviewing last years plays, trying to think of new ways to improve our goal scoring methods. "Wood, give it a rest, it's not like you haven't gone over every play twice already," joked Alden. I shrugged him off and continued on in my thoughts. It's not like I don't enjoy making up plays, it's what I'm best at besides actually playing, but I really hate being labeled as obsessive by my friends.
It's my responsibility as team captain to do all that I can to make our team stand out from the rest. Everyone has weaknesses and my job, as their captain, is to find them and work around them, and believe me its not that easy. I'd already had two other chances at the house cup and realizing that I've only one more year to show my team, the school, the scouts and more importantly my father that I can do it; that I can bring Gryffindor the house cup. This is my one chance to be noticed by the pros. I have to win it this year
"Oi, Oliver, ye hear about that oaf Malfoy." Said Landon, purposely trying to stir me out of my thoughts. "Aye I did," I said giving in to my roommates and coming out of my own world. "Harry told me he reckons the little bugger's faking it. Madame Pomfrey can fix mostly anything." " Aye, well if he's arm is hurt, even a little it will give us the advantage." "Not that you need to be worried about, Harry is about as good as it gets." "I guess, but then again you never know what will go wrong…" I trailed off as a sudden hushed whisper began to fall over the table. I looked confused, until I saw her walking through the archway, arm looped unceremoniously with Ariana Stewart.
She was smiling as always, purposely in her own little world, ignoring the rest of us. She never associated with the rest of the school, in a way she was far more exclusive then we ever were. She had friends, but she never strayed outside of them. Never dated anyone of us, never laughed with us, or took part in our celebrations, not even quidditch. She was different than the rest of us; more accepting of the different, but always shy of the norm. Normal, it seemed was her greatest fear. She was afraid to fit in, afraid of being just another angst hormone driven teenager. I'm not even sure if she was aware of it.
I admit it only to myself but I think she is the greatest thing since quidditch it's self was invented. I wished she'd smile when I was around. I suddenly felt bad about it again. I truly didn't mean to make her get detention, and I definitely deserved her rantings. My friends as always, had been perfect arses to her, and amazingly as always she'd taken it in stride. She was still a lot friendly to them then she was with me. 'I wish I could do something to make her hate me less' I thought sighing loudly, and fumbled my eggs around on my plate, appetite lost. Suddenly I had an idea. "Guard my stuff for me wills ye?" I told Landon before taking off, breakfast and quidditch forgotten, fast enough to avoid their questions.
End POV
A week had gone by before Oliver could convince his potions master of anything and Arielle still refused to talk to him. Potions was difficult to sit through, her silence spoke the words she couldn't, he could almost feel the heat in her gaze. Finally one day after class he managed to catch her before she left.
"Arielle, I just…I just wanted to apologize for not my part on the potion's essay. I know there isn't any excuse but…. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I wasn't thinking. " "Well that's the understatement of the year…"She said sarcastically unable to control the words from rolling off her tongue. He stopped, an unrecognizable emotion blazing in his eyes as she started to walk away; he grabbed hold of her arm. "I've…I've asked Snape to let us make up the essay." "Snape is letting us hand in the essay late?" She said optimistically, forgetting that Oliver still clutched her arm in his hand.
"Well no…" "Then why are you still standing here? Holding my arm no less." She said trying to conceal her bitterness as she shrugged him off. "Well…he said that we could do some extra credit…he said that…if we could actually draw up a proper sleeping draught and he would give us full marks…." He said with a bit of uneasiness. "Well of course he will, cause he knows you have to be a genius to as you English would say it 'bloody' get it right." He smiled genuinely at her, a look that she wasn't familiar with. "Actually, I'm Scottish, but….look, it doesn't take that long to make…if we did it this Friday." "I don't know about you, but I have detention." She said now with unrestrained resentment and she watched the smile slide of his face.
"Well, actually…I convinced McGonagall to let us off the hook…" "Let me guess, McGonagall favorite keeper needed time to go over his play books before his first practice?" she said a tad more spitefully than she meant too. He looked sheepish and didn't say anything. After a short period of awkward silence she spoke, far more quietly and friendly than before. "Well, I suppose we can do it Friday night… you have the ingredients right?" "All of it except some sopophorous beans but I've sent out for some, the should be here by Thursday." He stated in a full sentence, his voice no longer nervous. "Ok, well, I'll get some pointers from Ana on the best way to make it and I'll meet you in the common room after dinner some time…ok?" "Sure" he said joyfully, while walking backwards away from her towards his waiting friends. He waved and then he was gone, leaving Eli dazed and confused.
Arielle POV
"Wow he talked to Snape." "Yup." "Big, greasy haired, evil buggy eyed Snape?" "Yes one and the same…this is going to be so lame…." "And he did this all for you?" "Not really…I mean this will help his grade too." I said to Ana, later that week, as I waited for Wood.
"Eli, the kid wants to go pro, a potions grade wouldn't matter in the least to him." "I guess...it was the least he could do anyways after what he did." I reasoned, shocked that Ana was actually suggesting that Wood could be nice. "You guess, look at all this kid did to get back into your good graces…he's trying to be nice, the least you could do is lay off the ice queen bit." "What! I can't believe you just said that, I thought we were in this together! Us against them, Socialites vs. the Outcasts, good against evil, society vs. ….us!" "Eli, I'm not taking Wood's side, and don't worry I'm still with you on all that, but look, you don't even know why he didn't do the essay, your just assuming that it was because of quidditch. Sides he seems like he doesn't want to argue about it anymore." "HELLO! This is Oliver Wood were talking about, this is most obviously about quidditch and of course he doesn't want to argue about it because he knows I'm right and he's wrong." "Whether it is or it isn't about quidditch, give the guy a break he obviously knew he's wrong anyways because he is trying to help. So what, one essay, big fucking deal you even get to make it up and he got you off detention-" "Yeah by being McGonagall's pet." "UH! Your impossible to reason with." "Why thank you!" I answered with out my normal sincerity. Wood is definitely not trying to be nice.
She sighed heading over an old red notebook. "Here are my notes, it'll tell you the best way to make the potion and all that jazz." "Thanks." I said as I grabbed them half-heartedly, wishing we hadn't just argued over something as stupid as Oliver Wood.
Just as I was thinking of him, he walked in, and Ana made a dash for it, unwilling to be sucked into helping me. He set the ingredients on the table and gave me his trademarked smirk a signal that he was ready when I was and we jumped into the work ahead.
End POV
"I thought you said this wasn't going to take that long?" Eli whined as she reclined on her end of the couch. It had been three hours since they had first began, and she was beginning to feel her eyelids droop. The common room had been long emptied and it was only the two of them that remained.
"It doesn't, compared to most potions, besides it's almost done." "Is it? Thank Merlin! I was beginning to think I'd be here when I turned 167." "Ha, like you'd live that long, you'll probably tell a death eater that you think his cloak is 3 years out of style and get hexed into a chicken before you turn 20." "I resent that! You can ask anyone, blue is the new black, and I prefer the words domestic fowl if you don't mind!" He laughed, and continued to stir the potion. She was unexpectedly surprised to find a different Oliver, beneath his normal appearances. He wasn't half bad, and definitely was good at keeping up with her, not skipping a beat. Not that she hated him less; she simply decided she could handle short one-on-one tolerance levels of his jockish insanity every now and then.
"Is it supposed to be giving off blue fog type stuff?" He asked warily looking down at the purple sludge. "Well, according to the notes, yes, but it's says it's supposed to be a light shade of lilac." "How do you get lighter than lilac?" "I don't know…maybe we should test it…" "Do you know how powerful this stuff is? We'd be asleep for days." "Not if you only took a tiny drop!" She argued testily. "Ladies first then." He said with mild disgust, as he peered at the mush like consistency.
"No way José…we'll do it at the same time." She ordered dipping her finger hesitantly in to the pulp like mixture, surprised to find the boiling liquid remarkably cold. She mentioned for Oliver to do the same. "On the count of one…two…three." Oliver quickly put it in his mouth, but Arielle didn't, backing out at the last moment. He cringed in disgust. "How was it?" she asked. "Awful…Hey no fair! You have to have some too." "Fine" she said putting her own finger into her mouth slowly. "Ack…that stuff is nasty." "Tell me about it." A few minutes later the potion had still not taken any effects on either of them
"Wood…. how come I'm not sleepy? Did we take enough?" She said panicking. "Yes, that should have been enough to knock anyone out for a few hours…" "O Merlin, we're going to fail… I knew it was too complicated!" She said falling back on the couch. "No, don't worry, we can try again tomorrow-" "No way, if it didn't work with Ana's notes there is no way we are going to get it to work tomorrow." She sighed. Oliver let out a wide yawn and leaned against the couch. "Let's just go to bed and think about it tomorrow." "Good idea" she started cutting herself off with her own yawn. "See what you made me do…yawning is contagious don't you know….Wood…..Oliver…." She looked over and saw he was asleep. 'I guess he was as tired as me.' She thought. 'I should go upstairs….nah I'll just shut my eyes…and …..sleep here for…. an hour or….'
THE NEXT MORNING
Arielle's POV
I opened my eyes and to the sound of the crackling fire and found myself enveloped by a warm body lying next me. It was warm, and comforting, and I snuggled into it, feeling the warmth and trying to block out the sun that was steadily starting to pour in. I had to admit I liked the feeling of being so close to this person, his arms draped around me. The boy was sleeping soundly and he shifted in his sleep, a small smile on his lips, and he loosened his grip on me 'Wood is very angelic when he sleeps…' I thought to myself. Wait no! Wood is NOT angelic…wait…. WHAT AM I DOING SLEEPING NEXT TO OLIVER! Oh god it's Oliver now…not good….' Here I was on the Gryffindor common room couch snuggled up with no one other than Oliver Wood in a very compromising position and I don't remember how I got there. Panicking, I slowly unwrapped his arms from around my waist, he murmured something but didn't wake up. Slowly I crept away from him, silent with horror that he would stir and I would be caught in probably the most awkward conversation in my life. Luckily I made it soundlessly to the stairs before bounding up them like a cheetah on the prowl.
Oliver POV
"Wood mate! Wake up! OLIVER!" Yelled a voice in my ear. I sprang up to a seating position, my eyes blinded by light from the windows. A few people drifted about around me, and I realized I was definitely not in my dorm room. "What time is it?" "It's about 7, you fell asleep in the common room." Said Landon laughing. I reached up and wiped my eyes and smoothed out my hair. Suddenly last night came back to me.
Flashback:
I woke up, it was still dark, to find a head of red wavy hair invading my right to breathe. I quickly combed it out of my face before realizing who was currently curled up beside me. 'What in Merlin's name was I doing last night…O yes the potion, it must have worked.' I looked down at Arielle; somehow she had fallen over onto my shoulder, and was practically lying on top of me. I looked down at her; she was so beautiful I don't think I'd ever noticed it before. She was understatedly good-looking; you could tell she never wore much make-up. Her looks were natural, something I found, astonishingly enough to me, incredibly attractive.
I swept a curl out of her face; she leaned into my hand still sleeping. I admit to myself that the current position we are entangled in would not look good in the morning. Not that I minded being caught with a girl in my arms, but, this girl would not take it so well and shockingly I cared. Reluctantly I gently, I shook her, trying to wake her up. "Arielle…Arielle…we fell asleep…you need to go to bed…" "mm…I am in bed" "No your still in the common room" "Go to sleep Ollie stop waking me up" She said. Groaned inwardly knowing she probably would still kill me in the morning. I gently positioned her feet on the floor, and attempted to stand her up so I could help her walk. However, instead she pushed me back on to the couch, into a now full lying position, and trapped me between her and the couch. "mm…sleep…" was all she said as she shifted her head to lie on my chest.. I sighed, a mixture of surrender and happiness, I am a guy after all. I repositioned her so she was lying next to me, knowing at least I could score some points for doing that. I smiled at her sleeping drawl and wrapped my arms around her small waist to ensure she wouldn't fall off and drifted off dreamlessly, having the true object of my dreams nestled close beside me.
End flashback.
"Oh Merlin…she's never going to talk to me again!" "Who?" said Landon, making me realize I had in fact been thinking out loud. "Arielle." "You mean Martin? What do you care?" "Ah! I care a lot! This is awful she'll probably think I'm the biggest wanker that ever lived and-"I said panicking, how could I have chased her away so easily. "Wait, you don't have a thing for Martin do you?" He questioned disgusted and rather loudly. "Shut up, you want the whole bloody house to hear you." I hissed at him and pulling him up the stairs toward the boy's dormitory, annoyed with his annoying social superiority complex.
"You do don't you, you've got a thing for the ice princess."
"Don't call her that, she's not like that at all." I explained
"And you would know right cause you're just her favorite person in the world." I simply sighed and ran his fingers through my hair the comment hitting home. "Look, sorry mate, I didn't mean it."
"No, your right, I'm…probably the person she hates most."
"Well, no offense but you had it coming, after all, was it not you who suggested we dye her hair puke green the week before valentines in 6th year so she couldn't get a date-"
"It came out-" I reasoned, truly not wanting to go every misdoing
"Or substituted her wand for a fake one during the day before finals-"
" I made sure she found it before her tests"
"Or that time when you transfigured her potions essay into a owl-"
"She didn't have one!" Come on, every girl wants and owl
"Oliver face it you were an arse." I rolled my eyes at him.
"So, compared to you guys I was an angel." I stated obviously. "Yes, but notice we never played a prank on the same person twice. You always went after Martin, the rest of us figured she'd scarred you for life some how and you wanted revenge. Hey at least we know now that you only did it because you were secretly in infatuated with her." "I was not in-…ok so I maybe I was…but still what in name of Merlin am I going to do know. I've probably scared her off…"I said miserably, finally at least admitting my long time obsession with a "What did you do anyways? Turn her teeth blue." I sighed and preceded to him the story.
"So you, ended up falling asleep with the girl you fancy on a very small teeny couch because of potion I might add and you ended up in a cozy slash compromising position with said girl and then she was gone before you woke up with no after morning commitment….Sorry mate don't see the problem." "Well for starters, she'll think I'm a jerk, two, she left which means she was uncomfortable or embarrassed to even have been caught in an accidental drug induced sleep next to me, and two she hasn't come down yet…or at least I don't think she has, which means she is purposely trying to avoid me, which means she obviously still hates me and-" "Wow slow down…first of all you said two twice, and second of all, you don't know any of that. Girls are odd but I'll help you out mate. They seem to all like me." "Harris, did I ever tell you that you were my favorite man-whore?"