The Catch

by thisisforyou

Puddlemere United beat the Donegal Dragons by two hundred points to one hundred and seventy. Celebrating at the pub after the match, Oliver Wood meets an old schoolmate and discovers a few things he never knew about love. And Slytherins. But mostly love. A love story told in a drabble for every day in February prompted by a line or lines of dialogue from 'chocolate fish'.

3. Chapter 3

Today's line: "I swear, you've seen that blasted Muggle film 200 times too many."
-"I love Ariel, and you'll never take her away from me."

---

Outside, the heat parallels that of the previous day. The Muggle street shimmers in a heat-haze that threatens to burn Oliver's feet even through the flimsy Muggle sandals Jenny insisted he wear. "So your owl," he says to Aidan as they step into the cloying street.

Aidan chuckles. "Oh, Flottie," he says. "Yeah, I'm sorry about her."

"Flottie," Oliver repeats incredulously. "You named an eagle owl Flottie?"

The Seeker frowned at him. "I probably should have picked something a little more majestic," he admits. "But I found her and her brother half-dead on a beach in Cork, so Flotsam and Jetsam seemed appropriate."

Oliver chuckles. "And is the brother as nutty as she is?"

"He died," Aidan says quietly. "Didn't make it back from the beach."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

There's a pause, and then the blond recovers brightly, "Plus, it works as a nod to The Little Mermaid, which I've always wanted to do."

Oliver smiles, one hand dancing along the line of shop-windows as they walk. "Flotsam and Jetsam," he muses gently. "They were Ursula's henchmen, right? The eels?"

Aidan stops walking, his mouth hanging open. Oliver grins. "You've seen The Little Mermaid?" he asks in disbelief. "I was just taking breath to explain it to you. I'm so used to people looking blank and saying, what?"

"If you've had this conversation so often for that to be automatic, I swear you've seen that blasted Muggle film two hundred times too many," Oliver teases.

The blond looks mock-affronted. "I love Ariel," he says firmly. "And you'll never take her away from me."

Oliver laughs. "Wouldn't want to try," he assures him. Then, because he feels supremely confident and yet delightfully shy around the older man, he adds, "You're just a romantic, aren't you?"

Aidan looks at him, the lights from the Muggle electronics store opposite flickering across his face, and he smiles.

"You bet I am," he says happily, and he reaches across and takes Oliver's hand.