Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Do you really think I would be posting on a fanfiction website if I owned Harry Potter? If you still think I own Harry Potter, then I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
Oliver Wood landed at the top of the professor's box and took in the sights of the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch. The Pitch was long since empty, and the students were well into celebrating or commiserating in their respective common rooms. Wood reminisced about his first game on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He took a Bludger to the head two minutes in and woke up in the hospital wing a week later. His fortunes have changed considerably since that painful beginning. Oliver Wood was now the captain of a Quidditch Cup-winning team.
The Gryffindor Quidditch Team of the last three years was widely viewed as the best Hogwarts team in many years. His captaincy was not always smooth sailing, in any case. Two years ago, his star, once in a century Seeker, went and got himself unconscious in the hospital wing, causing a historic loss to Ravenclaw. Sure, his actions resulted in the downfall of Slytherin's winning streak in the House Cup, but the House Cup is irrelevant when the Quidditch Cup is in play. Last year the tournament had been called off because the professors believed the spot of bother with the Heir of Slytherin was more important than the noble game of Quidditch.
Finally, this year had many agonizing twists and turns. Gryffindor had been training to face Slytherin in the first match only to have the match re-scheduled as Flint claimed his Seeker, Malfoy, had an injured arm, so the first match was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff match was a right pain in the arse.
The game was played in heavy rain, thunder, lightning, and ferocious wind. The constant raindrops obscured the team's vision. Fortunately, Hermione Granger thought of "Impervius" so Harry's glasses would repel any water. Then both Seekers detected the Snitch, but one hundred Dementors entered the stadium, causing Harry to fall about fifty feet to the ground. Unfortunately, Hufflepuff's Seeker caught the Snitch and almost completely derailed Gryffindor's chances at the Quidditch Cup. The sheer agony of the memory still caused Oliver to brood for hours if he dwelled on thoughts of that particular game.
An even worse complication from the Hufflepuff game was the loss of Harry's Nimbus 2000, which had the misfortune to be blown into the Whomping Willow, thus being destroyed. For a time, Harry used an old-school Shooting Star as a substitute broom, and Oliver had worried that Harry would not order a replacement in time for their next game. This worry was naught because the star Seeker received a Firebolt for Christmas!
Up until this point, Wood could only get the Gryffindor Team to train three times a week, but he finally managed to get the practices up to five times a week. For the game against Ravenclaw, Harry flew his new Firebolt. His opposing Seeker, fourth-year Cho Chang, flew an old Comet 260. This match should have been no contest. Gryffindor had the better-skilled player, more experienced Seeker, and better broom. Wood had begun to worry when Harry did not overcome Chang's blocking tactic. Seriously, what was going through his star Seeker's head? If Harry flew at the Ravenclaw Seeker, she would have just dodged to avoid the collision, or he would have been knocked off her broom. Wood knew Gryffindor could not afford to lose a game that should have been an easy win. Honestly, what was going through Harry's head?
The Gryffindor Seeker's delays in catching the Golden Snitch at least had the benefit of the Lions scoring more goals to make up for the match against Hufflepuff. Winning the overall tournament was the goal. Fortunately, Gryffindor's next potential crisis was quickly overcome by Potter. When Harry spotted the Snitch for the third time, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint walked onto the Pitch, dressed as Dementors. Having been given anti-dementor lessons, Harry shot his Patronus at them and then caught the Snitch. This move gave Gryffindor a victory, whose fans ran onto the Pitch in celebration. The Gryffindor captain could still recall his relief at the adverted crisis.
The Quidditch Cup Final was predictably brutal. Johnson scored first, but then that troll Flint crashed into her. So rightly, Fred threw his bat at the back of Flint's inbreed head which smashed into his broom handle, bloodying his nose. Penalties were unfortunately given to each side. Alicia Spinnet scored, and Wood saved. Bell scored another penalty after that tosser Montague grabbed her head. Flint then scored for Slytherin. Bole hit Alicia with his club, and George elbowed him in the face, resulting in two more penalties.
The Final continued in this way, with the cheating Slytherins playing dirty and the gallant Gryffindors flying for the win. Naturally, Wood had to fret over his star Seeker yet again. There could be no funny business around Potter that would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this time. Wood knew he just had to get into Harry's skull! "So, you must only catch it if we're more than fifty points up... Only if we're more than fifty points up, Harry, or we win the match but lose the Cup. You've got that, haven't you? You must only catch the Snitch if we're..." This plan would not be an easy task if the Slimy Snakes had anything to do about it. After Wood saved again and Gryffindor scored, a goal from Bell made the score 50-10. Bole and Derrick winded Wood with two Bludgers to the stomach. Johnson scored the resulting penalty, and Gryffindor moved into a 70-10 lead when Alicia scored.
As Harry chased the Snitch for the win, the cheating git Malfoy grabbed Potter's Firebolt. Alicia then missed a penalty, and Montague scored for Slytherin. After Johnson scored to make it 80-20, Wood saw a horrible sight: Malfoy plummeted towards the Snitch! Oliver shouted to his Seeker. Harry pursued Malfoy and took both hands off his broom to reach out and capture the Snitch, winning Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup! Oliver Wood's dream had finally come long overdue.
Finally, all of the agonizing hardships of the last three years had eventually paid off, and Gryffindor was finally the champion again.
The sound of someone climbing the steps of the professor's box distracted Wood. Turning his head, Oliver could see chocolate brown hair appear at the top of the steps. As he watched the unknown person climb the stairs, Wood recognized his teammate, Katie Bell. The fourth-year chaser held her broomstick in one hand, and her wand held aloft in her other hand. Floating above Katie was a large serving tray covered in food.
"Oliver, I knew that I Wood find you here," Katie stated kindly with a slight smirk. Oliver was shocked to see his teammate at the Quidditch Pitch. "I did not think anyone would come out to the Pitch so soon after the match," Oliver stated. "Shouldn't you be celebrating with the rest of Gryffindor?" Katie's smirk grew. "I could say the same about you, dear captain," Bell added with humour in her voice.
The Gryffindor Quidditch captain sighed. "I am just taking it all in," Wood began slowly. "I have been on the team for six years and the captain for three years. Today's game was my last as a student at Hogwarts. My whole life has been about Quidditch and getting to where I am now. There were many talent scouts for professional teams here today. A scout from Puddlemere United scheduled a meeting to discuss a potential contract with their reserve team.
"That sounds brilliant, Oliver," Katie stated as she lowered the serving tray onto a bench with her wand. "You will definitely play Quidditch professionally when you leave Hogwarts in a couple of months."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Oliver Wood began as he looked over at the serving tray of food. "Why did you bring this food out to the Pitch?"
"You did not eat before the match and have not eaten since. You always pushed the team to eat before a match but never followed your orders," Katie stated with mock annoyance.
The two Gryffindor Quidditch plays sat, ate, and reminisced on old memories of their time on their House Team.
As the sun began to set, Katie stood up and stretched. "Well, I believe that I have imposed on your alone time long enough," Katie started with a slightly nervous tone as she finished her after-supper mint. The Gryffindor chaser appeared to be steeling herself for something. Katie lightly bit her lower lip, took a breath, and then breathed out. Katie Bell leaned down and kissed Oliver Wood on the lips. After three seconds, and before her captain could react, Bell leaned back, mounted her broom, and flew back towards Hogwarts castle.
Oliver Wood was stunned.
Author's Note:
A friend wanted to read a fic with this pairing. I was intrigued enough to write a quick one-shot.
Since I am busy working on my Ph.D. and looking out for the family, I will probably post the occasional one-shot before moving to chapter-length novel fanfiction.
