Roger hurried down the hallway that lead to Ravenclaw's Common Room. He'd watched Cedric follow Oliver and thought it best that he just left them to it.
'Roger! Hey wait a second.' Cedric ran up to him, out of breath. 'I'm sorry. Okay, just don't think you're to blame. Because you're not. I should have shown some restraint. Okay, it's not your fault.'
Roger nodded in silence, wondering, not for the first time, when Cedric had gotten so grown up. He seemed so different from the wild card, devil may care kid he used to be. If he ever slipped into that role now, he always came out of it and faced whatever consequences there were. Like tonight.
'I'm sorry too.' Roger finally replied. 'I shouldn't have let you.' He placed a hand on Cedric's shoulder, 'we're okay. It's you and Oliver that need to sort things through.'
He saw a shadow cross Cedric's face, saw his lip tremble slightly.
'Go on.' He said, not unkindly. 'Away to your bed. You need a nights sleep before you face everything. See you later.'
The next couple of days seemed to drag by and all that happened was the slow deterioration of his best friend. He seemed lost, and nothing Roger could say or do helped. There was only one person who could help and he was refusing to even look in Cedric's direction.
'Oliver.' Roger jogged across the courtyard to catch the Gryffindor. 'Wood. I was talking to you.' He caught hold of Oliver's arm, turning him to face him. He shot a look at Fred and George, who had been talking to their captain.
'Right well…' George started.
'…We'll be seeing you Oliver.' Fred finished and the two disappeared.
'What do you want?' Oliver demanded as soon as they had gone. 'Shouldn't you be with him?'
Roger bit back a sharp reply, quashing his temper that was beginning to boil. 'No. I should be right here. I need to apologise. It wasn't Ced's fault. If you should blame anyone it should be me.'
Oliver laughed harshly, 'that's exactly what he said about you.'
'He was wrong. I could have told him to stop, couldn't I? But I didn't, did I?'
Oliver's face seemed to soften for a moment. 'No. But I know what he's like.' He faltered. 'There isn't much that can stop him in that mood.' Oliver's gaze was distant, even though he was looking straight at Roger.
'He loves you. He's sorry. Can't you at least talk to him?'
Oliver shook his head, not replying.
'Don't you still love him?'
'I-' Oliver took a deep breath, looking at the floor. 'No. I can't. I don't trust him. You want him, you can have him.'
'For fuck's sake Wood! He's my friend. My best friend. Nothing else! He made a mistake. He knows that. He's sorry and he wants to make things right. But how can he, when you won't even look his way?' Roger shook his head. 'I can't believe you're letting yourself lose him.'
'You know nothing about me.' Oliver said stiffly, pushing past Roger and walking away.
To say Roger was feeling apprehensive would be an understatement. He stood in the centre of the pitch, gaze fixed firmly at the floor, until…
'Captains, shake!'
He looked up into the face of Oliver Wood. Again the gaze was distant, the handshake had none of the normal vigour either. In fact Oliver barely touched him before pulling his hand back. Roger sighed a Quidditch match wasn't the best time for Wood to start believing Roger was the reason behind his and Cedric's break up. Especially when Gryffindor were playing Ravenclaw.
'Mount your brooms.'
Roger leapt on his, soaring up to circle above Madam Hooch. He was more than a little relieved as he saw Wood fly away to his position by the goalposts. But seeing as he was Keeper and Roger a Chaser, they'd probably clash before the match was over. Suddenly the Quaffle was in the air and Ravenclaw had it. They passed well, dodging Fred and George's bludgers, and then it was Roger flying towards Wood.
He looked back to see if another of his chasers could take a pass. But they couldn't, not without a Gryffindor intercepting. Wood's eyes were narrowed as Roger sped closer. He swallowed and dodged left, before sliding right and sailing the ball cleanly through the right hand hoop. Ravenclaw were on the board.
It was an end-to-end match, points racking up on both sides. Cho and the Gryffindor Seeker, Chambers, had a brief chase for the Snitch before it vanished again. Roger was feeling hopeful that the game would end, eventually, with no bad blood between himself and Oliver. In fact he was starting to feel a little foolish, having even thought the Scot would do something like that. After all he was Wood, not Flint.
Then Gryffindor called a time out. It was starting to rain and Wood was altering tactics. Roger couldn't help but notice that he was talking to the Weasleys. The uneasy feeling came back. He called over his own Beaters, making sure they would protect the Chasers and check any move made by Fred or George.
The match resumed, almost immediately the Snitch reappeared and Chambers, followed by Cho, streaked off after it. Ravenclaw had the Quaffle and were making progress towards Gryffindor's goal, when…
'ROGER! DUCK!' He didn't quite understand. The Quaffle was headed his way and he needed to catch it. He clutched the red ball to his chest and then it hit. Slamming into him, right between his shoulder blades. All the breath was knocked from him as he itched forward, losing his grip on the Quaffle and his broom. His head span from the pain and he couldn't catch his breath. He didn't have time to before he hit the ground.
Winded for the second time in as many minutes, he hit the ground hard. Everything was grey and he couldn't move without feeling a thousand different pains stab through his body. He contented himself to lie still, watching the match carry on above him. Soon it was all over. Chambers catching the Snitch.
'Roger! Are you okay? I tried to get down sooner, but I was such a long way… they wouldn't let me cross the pitch. Oh Merlin! You look terrible.'
He felt a hand in his hair and refocused his eyes, smiling as he saw his best friend.
'Just a bit sore Ced, that's all.'
'Oh! But you fell so far and that Bludger!' Cedric's expression hardened. 'That was totally unnecessary.'
'Roger, are you okay?' Roger looked across at a pair of knees that he assumed belonged to Oliver Wood, judging by Cedric's reaction.
'As if you care! You bloody well meant for this to happen! I saw you specifically talking to Fred and George in your time out. You wanted to hurt Roger. Well thanks a lot. I know I was stupid. You don't have to take it out on him! Or perhaps you want to punish me by trying to kill my best friend?'
'I'm sorry okay. I came to see if he was alright didn't I? I just said to Fred and George to stop any of the Chasers if they looked like scoring. You know, what you're supposed to do in Quidditch!'
'Both of you SHUT UP!' Roger shouted, trying to sit up. The movement made him scream in agony and he collapsed back onto the grass. 'It doesn't matter. I've had worse things happen. But you two screaming at each other isn't going to help… though at least you're communicating. You have issues. Deal with them, or the next three years are going to be hell. On all of us…'
He didn't have time to see their reactions, as Madam Pomfrey accompanied by McGonagal, Dumbledore and Snape arrived, quickly dispersing the crowd around him. He was relieved to find himself on a stretcher being taken to the hospital wing. Maybe there he'd get some peace.