A/N: I'm just trying to get all of my stories done, so I'm hoping this will get done. Enjoy!
Chapter 8: Oliver's Day
I walked into the common room soaking wet, muddy as hell and grinning like a fool. I couldn't help it. Not only had I beaten Ginger in a race, I'd also completely embarrassed her in front of most of the school.
"Oy, Wood! What happened to you mate?" Katie glanced at the door and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Just a friendly race down on the Quidditch pitch," I responded, plopping onto a chair arm next to her.
"Friendly race with who?" Katie put down the book she was reading.
"Ginger," I said. I almost split my face in half; I was smiling so hard.
"Ginger?" Angelina walked in and looked as surprised as Katie had when I had walked in. "You raced her?"
I nodded.
"Oh, and what did she get for winning, mate?" Angelina asked, leaning against the fireplace.
"She didn't win," I said breathy. "I did."
"What? You beat Ginger!" Katie and Angelina looked at each other and back at me.
"Yea, I did. And I won another kiss." I looked at them happily.
Katie smiled. "I thought you didn't fancy her, mate."
"Well, I thought I didn't, but since she came back…I guess I really do."
The girls looked at each other in a knowing way, and then Angelina looked at me, confused. "Another kiss, mate?"
"Uh?" I looked at her. "Oh, right. She kissed me on the cheek before Defense Against the Dark Arts. I ended up kissing her on the lips instantly after that. Then we got into a fight and settled it with a race. If she won, we'd forget the whole thing and stay friends. If I won, I got to kiss her again." I yawned.
"Well, then what happened?" Fred asked. He and George had come up to us while I was talking.
"It started to rain. Ginger and I each grabbed a broomstick and started at the close end of the pitch. We counted out three and took off. She was ahead of me when we got to the other end. But then we started back to the starting point and I won, but not by a lot. I was soaked and Ginger's sweater was sticking to her body."
"What sweater?" George asked.
"She changed into jeans, a little shirt and a zip-up sweater for a defensive mechanism if we fought." I looked confused for a minute. "I was at the part where I won, right?"
All four of them nodded and got more comfortable.
"Alright. After I realized I'd won, I did a couple of victory laps. Ginger thought she could get away from the bet, so she started to leave. I tackled her to the ground, thus the reason the for the mud, and we were laying on the wet ground, covered in mud." I laughed. "She convinced me to take a rain check on the kiss. We ran back to the castle and everyone in the hallway downstairs thought the two of us had been doing something…else."
Katie scoffed. "Of course they did. Have you seen yourself?"
I shook my head. "But if Ginger looked anything like I do, I'd say I'd think that way too. Anyway, we came in and made plans to run amok in Hogsmeade on Saturday and then she turned to leave, to go kill Flint, I believe. I turned her around and said goodbye then kissed her cheek and walked off. She yelled something like, 'That counted as the bet, you know, mate.' And I responded rather cheekily by saying something similar to 'Yea, but you'll want to kiss me next time.' She wasn't too happy with me for saying that in front of everyone."
"I don't doubt it, you git!" Angelina laughed. "You are terrible, Wood. She obviously doesn't want anything to do with you romantically."
I shook my head again. "No, I honestly think she wants to go out with me. Why else would she still agree to go to Hogsmeade with me?"
"Maybe she thought you were kidding," Katie suggested, shrugging her shoulders.
"I don't think she did." I scratched my head. "Oh, well. I'll see you tomorrow then."
I got up to leave when I felt someone tugging on my robes.
"Wood, did you tell her you were meeting her this Saturday?" Angelina looked up at me.
"Yeah, why?"
"There's a Quidditch scrimmage Saturday morning." Fred looked at me in shock. "You should know that better than anyone."
"Bloody hell!" I threw my hand up and hit myself in the head. "Who do we play?"
"Ravenclaw." Katie smirked. "You know, your girlfriend's house?"
"Ha, ha, ha!" I said cynically. "I'll talk to her tomorrow." Then I went up to my dormitory, took off my dirty clothes, put on a clean pair of pajamas, and fell onto the bed to sleep.
The next morning, I slept late. I jumped out of bed and dressed quickly. Then I remembered I was supposed to meet Ginger in the Great Hall.
"Bloody Hell!" I ran from the dorm, through the common room and out the door.
I reached the Great Hall rather soon for me and looked around the room. Everyone was looking at me and staring. I must look awful, I thought. I mean, I didn't even get to comb my hair.
I glanced at the Ravenclaw table. Ginger wasn't there. I looked over at Flint; he smirked at me, but no Ginger there, either. I even looked at the Hufflepuff table. Still no sign of her. I'd just about lost hope when I glanced at Harry, Ron and Hermione. There was Ginger, right beside them, laughing.
They all glanced up at me. The three third-years laughed happily at the sight of me. Ginger was trying to suppress laughter, and looked away from me.
I smiled and started toward them.
"Hey, there, Wood. Rough night's sleep?" Harry grinned whole-heartedly.
"You could say that, mate," I said, sitting down next to Ron (and across from Ginger).
Ginger glanced at me and smiled slightly. "I hope it wasn't anything too terrible, mate."
"Oy, Ginger! I never said it was terrible. In fact," I leaned across the table toward her and lowered my voice, "I dreamed about you. I didn't want to get up until I realized I was going to see the real you at breakfast."
Ginger blushed. "But, you won't get to see me long. I've got to get to Potions." She stood up.
"Are you sure you have to leave?" Ron whined. "We were having so much fun."
"Sorry, mate, but you know how Snape gets. Bye, then," Ginger said, waving and departing from the table.
"She awfully nice, Wood," Hermione said, glancing at me.
"I know, Granger," I murmured, staring at the door Ginger had just left through. Then I stood up and cleared my throat. "Excuse me, but I must be off, too. Arithmacy."
The lesson was quite boring. I drew on the edges of my parchment. When we were dismissed, I looked down at the drawing, I saw that lines looked significantly familiar. I couldn't quite place them, but I really didn't have time. I had to talk to Ginger.
I raced out of the room and down to the dungeon door. Snape was well known for keeping his seventh-years later than needed. I leaned against the wall beside the door. Sure enough, the door opened and the seventh year Ravenclaws came pouring out of the dungeon and into the hall.
There she was; she was laughing with one of the Ravenclaw beaters. He made her smile. I started to get mad as I walked toward them. The beater saw me coming and said his good-bye. Ginger looked after him confused.
"Hello, mate," I whispered into her ear as she looked after the boy.
"Oliver!" Ginger whirled around, a mixture of joy and anger on her face. "So that's why Daniel ran off so fast."
"I guess so." I grinned lazily. "I need to talk to you…About Saturday-"
"You can't meet me because of the Quidditch scrimmage, right?" Ginger smiled and started walking toward her next class.
"Well, yeah." I paused. "How did you know?"
"Daniel told me," she said. She looked up at me and smirked. "What got your knickers in a twist?"
I ignored her. "Are you going tomorrow?"
"Maybe." She sighed, then she glanced at me.
"Well, maybe we could go into Hogsmeade after?" I stepped in front of her.
"Maybe," she answered again. "See ya, mate."
Then she walked around me and headed up the stairs to her next class. I stared after her.
"I don't think she won't go," I whispered. Then I started off to my next class. I looked down at my Arithmacy notes and laughed out loud. The drawing I had made looked exactly like Ginger. I've got it bad, I thought as I entered Herbiology.
A/N: I'm soooo tired. But that's the next chapter. Hopefully, this story will be over soon. See you, loyal reviewers. Nellie