I didn't sleep well the next two nights, spending more time battling the inner demons that seemed to rear their ugly heads every time I settled into my pillows and pulled Meister Eule to my chest. The demons always fought back with great force, because when I did finally manage to fall asleep, I would be tormented by steamy, detailed dreams of Oliver Wood.

My mantra, the "I will not fancy Oliver Wood" one, seemed to weaken each time I saw him, and my mates were noticing, despite how hard I tried to hide it.

Friday morning, I was walking with Fiona down to Care of Magical Creatures when I saw Oliver and two of his mates coming down the other path that would meet up with ours. My step faltered, and Fiona had to grab a hold of my elbow so that I didn't fall and injure myself.

"Mind where you're walking," Fiona cried.

I cringed. "Sorry!"

"We need you for this match on Saturday, Rue."

"I was," I paused, adjusting my bag's strap around my shoulder as we continued down the path, trailing behind the Scot and company, "distracted, as it were."

Fiona raised her eyebrows before giving the back of Wood's head a pointed look.

I rolled my eyes.

"You better admit it before you end up hurting yourself. This isn't healthy," she whispered as we came up to our classmates and Hagrid started our lesson.

At that moment, Wood glanced in my direction and gave me a small smile. I felt my stomach plummet before I sneered and turned my attention back to the giant standing before us.

Classes had ended, and I was on my way to the library when that Scottish accent reverberated down the corridor.

"Oi, Rue." His footsteps slowed down as he reached me.

I looked up at him, continuing onward. "Yeah, Wood?"

"What're you doing?"

I stopped and turned to him, folding my arms over my chest. "Going to the library to finish an essay, why?"

He pressed, "Which essay?"

"The Care of Magical Creatures one that's due Monday."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Actually, y-"

"Good," he said, taking off at a brisk pace. I hurried to keep up with him, mentally cursing my short legs.

"You are going to sit at a different table," I said, having caught up with him.

"No, I don't think I will." I could hear the laughter in his voice. We reached the doors to the library and went in.

I groaned and was about to retort when Madam Pince gave me a particularly sharp look. I huffed and crossed to a table, unceremoniously dumping my bag on top of it and sliding a chair out so I could sit.

To my chagrin, Wood did precisely as he said he would: he pulled out the chair across from me and sat, rummaging through his own bag before he pulled out a blank piece of parchment, a white quill, and ink.

I decided to ignore him and focus on finishing up the last few paragraphs of my own essay. I had gotten to a good start when Wood hissed my name three times, looking nervously between me and Madam Pince.

"What?" I finally hissed back, glaring at him.

"Could you help me with something?"

"Use your book."

"I forgot it," he whispered simply.

"You are so infuriating," I managed through clenched teeth as he grabbed my textbook. I placed my hand over the page he'd opened it to.

He looked up, his brown eyes gleaming mischievously, "I need to look at that."

"Yeah, well, that's my book, and I don't recall saying you could borrow it."

"Then help me."

"With what?" I asked incredulously. "We're writing about dragons, it's all in the book. Go get your own. Or, oh, I don't know, you could find a book about them seeing as we're in a bloody library."

Madam Pince shushed me from her perch behind her desk. I gave her an apologetic look before turning back to a smirking Wood.

"I think I rather like you like this, Rue," he said softly, fixing me with some sort of look that I didn't even want to try to interpret. However, it did awaken butterflies in my chest. I shook my head to rid myself of the feeling before turning back to my parchment.

"But," he started, leaning closer to me. His hand covered my own, preventing me from moving my quill to write. I looked up at him, my heart pounding at the sudden contact. I mentally noted to find a way to properly punish myself for all this wonky behaviour, such as running laps around the pitch or something of the sort.

He looked down at our hands before meeting my gaze. "I also like the Rue that was in the Hospital Wing with me Tuesday night," he said softly, searching my face before his gaze settled on my lips.

My eyes widened. He bloody knew. He had been awake when I'd decided to kiss him. Merlin, dammit. I would have to up that self-punishment.

I pushed back against the table, the legs of the chair scratching against the floor, as I quickly tossed all my things into my bag and dashed from the library, leaving a quiet Wood at the table behind me.

I collapsed on my bed in a fresh pair of pyjamas after having taken a bath. Fiona sat with Carrie on her bed as they thumbed through a Witch Weekly magazine, gushing over some feature on a "ridiculously, impossibly attractive Spanish bloke." Rose was lying on her stomach, writing in her journal and occasionally glancing over at me suspiciously.

My thoughts wandered to Wood and the fact that he knew. I still couldn't believe it, and I had spent the better part of dinner worrying about it. I had been so lost in thought, in fact, that when Carrie gently patted my arm to get my attention, I jerked up and away from her, whipping out my wand and poking her in the ribs with it. Rose had asked what had my knickers in such a twist, but I hadn't offered an explanation.

I wished to Merlin that Wood hadn't brought up the incident, as I had absolutely no way to rationalise why I had done it. It was simply because I had wanted to, or so my heart's vocalisation claimed. The logical part of me cried back that it was a stupid thing to have done because I didn't care for him at all, but then yet another voice in my mind emerged saying, "Well, now, that's not entirely true, is it?"

Of course, it wasn't. But, again, that wasn't something I was just going to admit aloud to anyone who would hear. I could barely handle that truth myself, and so I continued to tell myself that I wouldn't and couldn't fancy him.

"Well," I said, growing bored of watching my mates, "I'm going to get some sleep. Fiona, I suggest you do the same."

I pulled the curtains of my bed closed to a chorus of "Good night!" and hoped that I would be blessed with much needed sleep.

"Rue-Rue," Fiona's sing-song voice came through, interrupting a rather pleasant dream in which I slammed the Quaffle into Marcus Flint's face, "it's time to wake up. Breakfast awaits!"

I grumbled, reaching out blindly in an attempt to shoo her.

Her hand clasped mine, and she began pulling on me, effectively dragging me halfway off my bed.

I let out a yelp as I slammed the palm of my hand against the floor to steady myself. Carrie pulled my blankets off of me, and Rose grabbed my ankles before tossing them off the side of the bed with the rest of me.

I landed on my stomach with an oomph before I rolled over onto my back and glared up at them.

"Stop dreaming about Wood's wood and let's get you geared up for the first Quidditch game of your sixth year!" Rose cried.

Carolina let out a triumphant cry as she threw my Quidditch robes at me. They landed in my lap. I gathered the robes up in my arms and shakily stood before wandering to the loo as my mates cheered my on. I slammed the door shut behind me, effectively quieting them down.

I sat on my broom as the cold, late-November air whipped around me. Madam Hooch was about to throw the Quaffle up in the air when my stomach gave a slight grumble. I hadn't eaten at breakfast because I was too anxious. I decided quickly to make a dash to the kitchens once the game was over, and I was about to make a list of what to eat when the Quaffle appeared in front of me. I edged my Nimbus 2001 forward and reached out for the red ball before speeding off down the pitch, Fiona and Davies close behind me.

We scored an easy first goal, raising the score 10-0.

The game continued in such a fashion. Hufflepuff eventually scored three goals, making the game 30-30, by some odd twist of fate. I kept an eye on Cho Chang who was still flitting about the pitch in search of the Golden Snitch and mentally urged her to find it soon.

Davies tossed me the Quaffle, and I caught it, having been disrupted from searching for Cho and Diggory. I slowed my broom when I came closer to the Hufflepuff goalposts and prepared to throw the Quaffle when I heard Fiona cry out somewhere behind me. I turned to look at her, but instead felt the full force of a bludger crash into me. The Quaffle fell from my hands as they went limp. I lost grip of my broomstick and slid off of it, falling down. The world went black.

I was barely coherent when I heard voices around me. I struggled to open my eyes, finding that they stung a bit, and I took in my surroundings. I was in the Hospital Wing, from what I could tell, and I wasn't sure what had happened. I could remember the start of game, and the Hufflepuff goalposts, and the Quaffle falling from my hands... then nothing.

I closed my eyes when Fiona's sharp voice accosted my ears. "Oliver, you can't stay, you've been here for hours. Go get something to eat from the kitchens, I can watch her for a little while."

"No," Wood said with finality.

I heard Fiona huff and then angry footsteps echoed as she stomped off. A chair scraped next to me, and I turned to open my eyes again.

"Rue?" he asked in a hushed voice.

I grumbled in response, attempting to push myself up.

His hands connected with my shoulders, holding me down. "You shouldn't move just yet, you took quite the hit."

"Did I?" I managed weakly, reaching a hand up to my forehead shakily.

Oliver nodded.

"Who won?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Rue, that's really not import-"

"Who won?" I pressed as forcefully as I could manage, desperately looking up into his dark brown eyes.

"Hufflepuff," he said quietly, dropping eye contact.

I pursed my lips. I could feel that familiar tightness in my chest that usually proceeded a long sob. A tear fell, and I knew that holding back would be futile.

"Rue," he said gently, "Rue, c'mon, please don't cry." He brushed away a few of the tears that stained my cheeks. "It's just a game," he said, continuing to awkwardly attempt to console me.

"B-but, it's not just a game," I blubbered, the waterworks finally exploding. "We had to win that match, we always win that match, and, and n-now," I choked on a sob.

"Look at me, Rue," he said.

I couldn't and continued with my sobbing.

He took my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. "Rue, please," his thumbs slid under my eyes, wiping away fresh tears. I bit my lip. "If I had known you would've been more upset about losing the game, I wouldn't have bothered telling Pomfrey to give you a strong painkilling potion."

A mixture of a sob and laugh came from my lips.

"There, now," he said softly, "see? Much better."

I offered him a weak smile.

He continued to wipe away the last few tears that managed to escape. I reached a hand up, wrapping my fingers around his wrist in a feeble attempt to get him to release me. Instead, he froze at the contact, a new look edging its way onto his features.

Before I knew it, his lips pressed urgently against mine. I wasn't sure what to do until instinct finally took over, and I melted into the kiss.

Our snog, however, was interrupted by Madam Pomfrey who cleared her throat. We tore apart from each other, and I could feel the heat flooding my face as I looked into my lap. Madam Pomfrey stood at the foot of my bed.

"It's late, Mr Wood. I suggest you head back to Gryffindor Tower. Miss Von Straussburg should be up on her feet by Monday," she said authoritatively.

He nodded and stood, his cheeks nearly as flushed as mine. He reached out and gave my hand a quick squeeze.

"Get better," he instructed softly before passing Madam Pomfrey, who gave him a harsh look, and hurrying out of the Hospital Wing.

I sighed and settled back against the pillows when Madam Pomfrey walked away after pulling a partition around my bed.

A single thought, a realisation, ran through my mind, ultimately altering my mantra for good:

I fancy Oliver Wood.

Alright, so that is chapter 20! I do hope you enjoyed it, and I'd like to apologize for the delay in updating. However, the next chapter is the final one, thus making it the EPIClogue, which I've had written for months. I'll be posting it later this week, because I would really like to receive a dizzying amount of reviews for this chapter. As you know, Ms Rowling owns the Harry Potter Universe, and I own all that you don't recognize from it. Also, please check out my RegulusOC fic, A World Unseen. I think it's pretty decent, though certainly a far cry from anything else I've written thus far. Shout out to WHASHMACKITY for being awesome. Please, please, please review! Yours.