The term sterted only three days before and I was already longing for Christmas holidays. I had spent most of my spare time locked up in the library with Eve, who was there mostly to keep me company, as she didn't have to cope up with as many subjects as I did. To make things worse McGonagall had found Percy's ideas of going with the prefects during night patrol brilliant, so I was now forced to check the schools corridors every two nights, which considerably reduced my number of sleeping hours. I got my revenge, though, I made sure that Percy was always in charge with the Slytherins and I with the Gryffindors. The only good thing that came out of all that hours spent between classes, library and corridors was that I had not caught sight of Wood since we left the Hogwarts express a few days before. I accidentally took a glimpse of him while I was heading back from dinner the day before, but I hurried out of the Great Hall, to make sure I could avoid him completely. It was to my huge disappointment, then, that I realized he was sitting next to me that morning. I tried to ignore him as hard as I could: I already had double potions with Slytherin, that was enough to make my morning dreadful, without having to worry also about our beloved quidditch captain.
I was just taking a second helping of cheese toast when my owl, Deneb, landed in front of me, starting to drink from my goblet of juice without even giving me the letter he was carrying.
«Honestly, Deneb, I'm pretty sure I tought you more manners than that!» I snapped at him, taking the letter from his leg.
«Sybil, do you realized you're talking to your owl as if he was your brother right? I think all this studying is really getting into your head» Eve said, but I stopped listening halfaway of the sentence, I was too busy looking at the signature at the end of the letter.
How the hell did Bill Weasley know that I was Head Girl? No, I knew perfectly how he did know about that. His stupid brother must have told him. I couldn't wait to tell him a few things...the other problem that remained unsolved was why Bill felt like giving me some advice, wishing me good luck and hoping that everything was fine. The only way to find out was probably answering the letter, but I had no intention whatsoever to do that. I'd rather dwell in doubt for my whole existence, you could've bet on that.
I put the letter in my pocket with an angry movement and looked right in front of me, were Percy was drinking his goblet of juice reading the Daily Prophet with interest. For a moment I considered the option of turning him into a turnip, but then I figured out that there were far too many witnesses in the Great Hall at the moment.
«PERCY!» I bellowed in his direction, He chocked in the goblet of Pumpkin Juice.
«What?» he asked, dumbfounded.
«How dared you tell you brother I was Head Girl and suggest him that I might need some advice?» I asked through grinded teeth. I didn't need to shout again, all the seventh years of our table were already watching us with interest.
«I never did anything like that. What are you talking about?»
«Oh sure, so how come that Bill -in Egypt- gets to know about it and send me this?» I handed him the letter, throwing a jug of milk on the table in the process. A damage that was easily mended by Eve, who knew me far too well to try to calm me down.
«How am I supposed to know? Maybe he's in touch with Dumbledore!»
«Oh yes and the Chudley Channons will win the Quidditch League this year!»
«He didn't do it» said a low voice, next to me. I ignored Wood and kept yelling at Percy what a total moron he was.
«I told him» said again the low voice, but this time he got my attention at once.
«You really want me to practice Avada Kedavra on you, don't you Wood?» I asked, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
«Not really, no. I'm pretty sure Flint won't mind, though» he grinned and I almost did the same, even if I eventually managed to get a hold of the muscle twitching in my cheek.
«That's not the point!» I replied coolly.
«Well I bet you've been dying to hear from him again, you just were too proud to admit it...»
«You owe someone a great deal of Galleons if you bet on that!» I growled, but he put a hand on my mouth, silencing me.
«Would you let me finish talking? Thank You. I know you, Bill, you are over your break up and you wanted to keep in touch with him. You just couldn't bare the thought of still wanting him in your life when he didn't seem to want you in his. I just did a bit of mediation, that's all» he finally removed his hand from my mouth and let me free to talk, again.
«You don't know me, Wood, or you would have known better thant to spill all my juiciest secrets to Slytherins. Next time, if you don't mind, stick to broomsticks!»
I got up and almost ran away, heading for Snape's dungeon. In that moment even that place seemed more welcoming than the overcrowded Hall.
The only fellow Gryffindor who was taking that lesson with me was Percy, very predictably. We didn't even look at each other while we were entering the so-called classroom. Too bad that Snape decided to let us work together that day.
«Don't you think you owe someone an apology, Sybil?» he asked, as I was mesauring the right amout of dragon blood we needed to make that particular potion.
«No way I'm gonna apologize with Wood and keep to yourself all your crap about house fraternity, will you?» I replied, without even looking at him. I dropped the blood in the cauldron, which began to smoke, and quickly stirred the potion five times anti-clockwise.
«I was talking about me»
«Oh, right, sorry Perce. It was just obvious to think that you did that»
«I wouldn't risk my own death, not before starting a career at the ministry»
I sighed, as I added a cat's spleen in the potion and tapped the fire with my wand, to make the flames higher.
«Do you ever think about anything else, Perce?»
«Said by the woman who thinks only about Oliver Wood...»
«What the hell are you saying?» I squealed, maybe a bit too loudly, as Snape turned to us, his lips curling into a smile that usually never meant something good.
«Weasley, would you delight all of us by telling what you were saying?»
I looked Percy in a warning way: I knew far too well that he was able to say everything about our conversation in that dungeon, because it was against the rules to lie to a teacher.
«I was just telling miss Wilde, here, that she needed to stir the potion one more time before adding the spleen, sir.»
I looked at my potion only to find out he was damn right. My potion was still yellowish and it should have turned red at the end of the stirring. I was quite sure I knew how to fix it, I would have needed half a dose of dragon blood and then stir six times in the opposite direction, but before I could get any of it done, Snape had vanished the potion in my cauldron.
«That was a D, miss Wilde. Maybe you should reconsider your options for the future.»
A few hours later I was in the owlery, trying to persuade Deneb to come down, because he had to send a letter for me. Apparently he was still offended by the way I treated him that morning and I wasn't using my most charming tone to persuade him to forgive me. I was furious. I didn't know what I should do to make up for my D in potions. I was seriously thinking that with Percy adding extra night patrols and pointing to the teachers my mistakes, I would have been very lucky to get any N.E.W.T. that year, let along the ones necessary to pursue a career in wandmaking. Maybe I should consider a full-time employment at the Three Broomsticks seriously. Or I could accidentally set a couple of dementors on Percy and have his soul sucked out. I had to discard that opinion though, I doubted that anyone would notice the difference. Finally Deneb flew on my oustretched arm and I was able to tie the letter to one of his legs. He hooted in a dignified sort of way -that ment he hadn't completely forgiven me- and flew outside the window, in the dark sky. I was just heading to the exit when I bumped into Wood. Was that nightmare of a day ever getting to a end? I was glad that boys could not get into girls' dormitories, or maybe I would have found him also there that night.
«Look where you're going!» I said, rather angrily.
«Always so charming, Bill» he replied, getting past me, to take a school's owl.
«You get what you deserve» I replied in a whisper.
«What do I exactly need to do to make you understand I never said anything to Slytherins?»
«Find a likeable explanation on how they knew such things. Or are you going to tell me that Bill let them know?»
«I don't know how it happened...just, it wasn't me, all right? And then no one remembers about it anymore, can't you get over it?» the fact that he actually sounded hopeful made the whole conversation even more ridiculous.
«You can't ask me something like that the same day I got a D in potion because of you»
«Because of me? It was Percy's fault!» I should have imagined that the episode had been thouroughly discussed ad dinner.
«I wouldn't have had an argument with Percy if you hadn't decided to write to Bill Weasley!»
«Honestly, you can't blame me for everything that's going wrong in your life.» he said, in a cold sort of way, before heading for the stairs and leaving me up there alone.
There was a small part of me that wanted to call him back and thank him. Thank him because the letter I just sent was addressed to Bill and I was glad that I was on speaking terms again with him. Ok, maybe that little part of me wanted me to call him back also because I could hug him and he would have reassured me that this awful day was getting to an end and that I was so brilliant I would have made up for everything, because that's what happened before we argued. But then there was the huge part of me, full of pride and anger, that would never admit that probably he was right, I had to get over it, nor that I missed Oliver, I missed him a whole lot.
I hurried back to the castle, as it was my turn to join Hufflepuff's prefects. I was so distracted that after a while Diggory, one of the sixth years, said to me that I could go back to my Common Room, they won't tell anything to McGonagall, or Percy. I sighed with relief and thanked him, before hurrying down the dark corridors. I was just about to reach the portrait of the Fat Lady, when I spotted Fred and George Weasley sneaking around.
«Oh please!» I moaned as I reached them «just wait till day light to do anything you're up to. And I'm not telling you because it's against the rules, but if I don't get to bed now I might end up killing someone.»
«Fair enough, go to bed and...»
«...we've never met! Have you seen the Head Girl around, Fred?»
«Absolutely not, George! Would we be outside if she was anywhere near?»
I smiled at them and decided not to worry. They would have believed me if I said I didn't see them: they had a personal record of times they eluded our guard. I finally was back to the common room. I expected it to be empty, but ther was still someone in there. Oliver apparently fell asleep on one of the harmchairs, a Quidditch book leaning over his face. I cleared my throat in a very noisy way and he got up suddenly. So suddenly that the book landed right on his nose, making him swear in a bad way. I couldn't help smiling.
«Get to bed, or your back will ache so badly you won't be able to fly tomorrow»
He did as I told him though he avoided very carefully any form of reply. I went up the stairs to the girls' dorms, but when I was half way I turned.
«Oliver» I called him back. for a split second it looked as if he wanted to go ahead as if he heard nothing, but then he turned to face me. «I don't know why you still care this much»
This time he didn't reply, but went straight in the seventh year dorm, leaving me there with nothing else to do, but do the same.