Chapter Three-Flirty Flyers & Frivolous Fighters: That's what friends are made of.
Her breath so close to his ear made a chill run down his spine.
"No, of course you aren't," he told Allyson as he turned to face her. "And I doubt you ever are," he said under his breath.
"Right. So, let's start with the basics shall we? I assume that you can fly all right?" he asked.
"Um, well, yeah, a bit," she replied, a tad embarrassed.
"A bit? How well's a bit?" he asked with a smirk.
"I dunno. I mean, I can balance all right and fly down low but that's about it," she told him.
"Fly low? Do you think that we fly down low the whole time we're playing Quidditch? Absolutely not! Didn't you take Madame Hooch's flying class?" exclaimed Oliver.
"Um, yes, but I, um, I failed," she told him quite timidly.
"Failed?" Oliver was about ready to burst. "You, a Ravenclaw, failed the class?"
"Yes, well, just because I'm a Ravenclaw doesn't mean that I'm brave like you Gryffindors. I happen to be a bit afraid of heights," retorted Allyson.
"Ok. I'll give you that. But how am I supposed to teach you Quidditch if you can't really fly and you're afraid of heights?" questioned Oliver.
Allyson smiled. "Well, I guess you'll just have to teach me to get over my fear of heights, right?"
Oliver's heart sped up a bit. 'Why did that have an effect on me? They weren't at all suggestive. Or were they?' he thought. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I guess I'll have to. Um, but that's probably gonna be hard, cause to do that I'd have to double ride a broomstick with you and that's not really allowed here so, um, oh fine! Damn it, I'll break a school rule! Only we'll fly low so no one can get hurt, all right?" he asked her.
"Fine with me. But I thought that Gryffindors were supposed to be admirable and obedient and that they didn't ever break any rules," she asked him slyly.
"Well, we usually don't, but for you…" he grinned.
"Me? What's so great about me?" she asked a little surprised.
"You can't fly!" he retorted, releasing a laugh.
"So what if I can't fly? That's why I'm here and at least I have the guts to admit it. So there!" she said with huff.
"Hey, lighten up a bit, Rosendale! It was just a joke but now we need to start working, ok?" he said.
"I know, I know. And, um, since we'll be seeing each other a lot you can call me Allyson. And, may I call you Oliver?" she asked shyly.
"Uh, sure. That's fine with me… Allyson," he grinned at her again.
Allyson let out a sigh. "Good. So, where do we start?"
Oliver grabbed his broomstick from the ground and levitated it in front of Allyson.
"Now, please tell me that you're familiar with broomsticks so I don't have to go over the basics of riding too!" he begged her.
She giggled a little as she replied, "Yes, I'm familiar with broomsticks so you don't have to go over the basics of riding too."
Oliver tried to keep a straight face as he told her firmly, "Rule Number One: Don't tease your instructors."
"Oh really?" she scoffed, arching an eyebrow, "And just what is Rule Number Two? Don't talk to your instructor?"
"Ha, ha, very funny. Well, now that you mention it, Rule Two is 'The student has to do whatever the instructor says she has to'," retorted Oliver with a wicked grin.
"Oh, but that could be dangerous" she protested but not without winking at him.
His heart pounded a bit harder as he warned her, "Yes, it can be. So, are you up to the challenge?"
Allyson's mind raced. Yes, he was taking the bait but he was also returning the favor rather fast. 'Strange. I didn't expect this to happen so suddenly but this is splendid,' she thought to herself.
"Of course. I'm always up for a challenge," she returned.
"All right then. I'm gonna put you in the front and I'll ride in the back. That way, you can do most of the steering but I'll be there in case you mess up," Oliver informed her.
She nodded and he climbed on the back of the broomstick and turned to help her on. She balanced rather well for someone who failed a flying class. When she was seated, Oliver hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and was rewarded by Allyson leaning back into him with a small, contented sort of sigh. That set his mind off well enough. His head began to fill with images of this girl in nothing but her knickers and a bra and dare he think it, naked.
Then a rather odd and completely out of place thought occurred in his head. 'I wonder,' he thought, 'Has anyone every attempted to have sex on a flying broomstick? Bloody hell, Oliver! Where did that come from? No more of that now.'
Allyson turned her head slightly and asked, "Is something wrong, Oliver? Are we going to take off or not?"
"Er, what? Oh yes! Just pull up on the tip and there you go!" he exclaimed as they climbed a few feet into the air.
"How do you steer this thing?" she teased from in front of him.
Oliver laughed and reached forward to close his sun-browned hands over her creamy white ones and helped her guide the broomstick in a circle. Her warmth crept into his body and gave him a deliciously tingly feeling all over. In that moment he forgot about the girl who had him completely captivated the day before and focused only on the present, on the girl who was secure in his informal embrace.
Allyson, with Oliver guiding her, was able to make it several times around the field before coming to a shaky landing.
"I didn't know flying could be so much fun!" she exclaimed to Oliver.
He smiled and said, "I told you that it's not that hard."
"I agree with you now. Why did I fail that flying class? Oh well! I'm flying now. Well, sort of, anyway," she replied sheepishly.
"Don't worry. You'll get better with practice. Soon, you'll be flying on your own and I promise you that you'll get over your fear of heights. How else will you be able to play Quidditch?" he told her.
She grinned and climbed off the broomstick. "So when's our next lesson?" she asked.
"Well, I'm kind of busy tomorrow. A couple of my friends and I are going to Hogsmede. So, how about Monday afternoon, same time?" he asked in reply.
"Sounds fine to me, but I wish we could practice tomorrow anyway. That's ok. I can wait," said Allyson a little dolefully.
"We'll have plenty of time to practice. I mean, we've got over half the year left. Besides, don't you ever go to Hogsmede?" he asked.
"Sometimes, but I'm usually by myself and that's not any fun," she informed him.
"Well then, you'll just have to go with me sometime. I'd ask you to go tomorrow but it's kind of an inside circle thing. Sorry," Oliver replied, a little embarrassed.
"Yeah, that's ok. I'll see you around, kay?" she said.
"Yeah, see ya around. Don't forget, Monday at five!" he called after her as she walked inside.
"Well, Oliver, that was something. I wonder what's in store for me later?" he said aloud as he headed inside himself.
Sunday afternoon, Oliver, Landon, Andy, and Alex were sitting outside of the Three Broomsticks drinking mugs of butterbeer and talking. Landon was entertaining the girls, as usual, with a bunch of jokes. While the girls were laughing at his latest, Landon glanced at Oliver and gave a jerk of his head in Alex's direction.
"What?" mouthed Oliver.
"Alex," whispered Landon, "Tell her."
Oliver frowned and gave an exasperated sigh. He walked over and sat down next to Alex. Andy got the signal and moved over to chat with Landon.
"Hey, so what's been up?" he asked Alex.
"Nothing much, just making trouble and annoying teachers. You know, the usual," she teased.
"Oh really? Well, good for you. It's been kind of boring on my end," he told her a little uneasily.
"Why don't I believe you? Oliver Wood's life is never boring with me in it," she retorted laughing.
"Maybe, maybe not," he returned.
"Yeah whatever. So, what has been up?" she asked.
"Um, like I told you before, nothing much. Except this one little incident Thursday," he mumbled.
Alex's eyebrow rose as she asked "Oh? And just what happened on Thursday?"
Oliver drew a deep breath and confessed "Here's the deal- I've been catching Allyson Rosendale staring at me. Then Thursday afternoon I was practicing Quidditch when I saw her staring at me again. I went up and asked her why she was staring at me and instead of giving me an answer she asked me to give her Quidditch lessons. I gave her my answer, which was yes, yesterday. Then yesterday afternoon we had our first lesson. She wanted to practice today but I told her that I was going to be with you, Andy and Landon. So that's my story."
Alex had a queer expression on her face as if something had just hit her. "Run that by me again. I don't think I got all of it," she managed to say.
"I'm giving Allyson Rosendale Quidditch lessons, ok?" Oliver sighed.
"Ok, I think I got it. But why the hell are you doing that? What is wrong with you, Wood? She's a bloody whore!" protested Alex.
"Well, she may be a ho but she's a damn nice person, all right? It's my life and I can talk to whomever I like," retorted Oliver stubbornly.
"Fine then, it's not like I'm trying to run your life. I'm just trying to warn you, people like her are nothing but trouble. Oh, but don't listen to me, I'm only a friend!" she replied a little angrily.
"And that's all you are and all you ever will be! You had your chance but no, I'm just a friend. Damn it, Alex! I bloody loved you and basically all you did was turn up your nose at me!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, well excuse me for not taking a chance with you. Maybe I didn't want to, maybe you weren't good enough for me. And you know what else? Maybe I've had enough! You can go off and tutor your little ho but don't come to me. I'm just a friend or maybe an ex-friend!" she argued back.
"Fine, Miss High and Mighty! Go! Maybe you'll be the one begging to be friends again and coming to me and then I'll just laugh in your face! You know why? Cause you're just a damn prat!" yelled Oliver.
"Hey, hey! Break it up, you two!" interrupted Landon.
"Yeah, cool it!" said Andy "Maybe we should go back to Hogwarts and let you two cool off."
"Good idea baby," said Landon, "Let's go, Wood."
Oliver and Landon got up from the table and walked away.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" exclaimed Andy.
"He got mad at me because I didn't like that fact that he was giving Rosendale Quidditch lessons," said Alex with a huff.
"Alex! Are you always going to blame things on everybody else?" protested Andy.
"All right, I got mad at him too. In fact, I probably started it. But why the hell tutor Rosendale?" retorted Alex.
"I don't know. He probably has his reasons, all right? Let's just go back to Hogwarts," returned Andy.
"Yeah, you're right as always. Let's go," replied Alex.