Today's line: "This is a talking stick. You don't get to hold it. I hold it. If you talk, I will hit you with it."
Of course, Oliver hadn't reckoned on team Quidditch training the following day.
The press were camped outside the stadium when he arrived, shoving their wands in his face and shouting questions at him. "I'm sorry," he tells them, not really sorry at all, "but I have to get to training. I really can't answer any questions at the moment."
He makes a mental note to Disapparate straight from the changing room to avoid them on the way out and brushes past them into the stadium.
Danny is standing by the changing-room door; Oliver discovers to his slight embarrassment that he's the last to arrive. "Sorry," he excuses weakly. "Had to fight through the press on the way in."
This is precisely the situation he had hoped to avoid, standing in the doorway with the entire team looking at him, feeling cornered. Danny shuts the door behind him with a tight sigh. "We all did," he says heavily. "I'm not saying we're not all hugely supportive of you, Ollie, but you really should have given us some warning that you were going to do something that drastic."
"I'm sorry," he says immediately, because he knows it's true. "I just – we only just decided we were going to do it on Friday, and we didn't mean to make it quite so sensational as that. I would have told you if I'd had time."
Howard stands up and goes to say something angry, but it's drowned out by Jenny, who grabs the back of his Puddlemere United jersey and tries to yank him back into his seat, shouting at him to shut up, that Oliver's probably got enough problems with the press without Howard turning on him too. Naturally, this quickly develops into a full-blown argument between the two. Oliver surmises from some of the things Howard is saying that he's more upset about the fact that the press don't want to talk about him for once than actually homophobic.
Eventually, though, Danny bellows oi! across the room and the two shut up, Jenny still glaring at Howard. The captain lifts his wand, fashions a sort of baton with it out of the air, and holds it aloft. "This," he says firmly, eyeballing Jenny sternly, "is a talking stick."
His eyes snap to Howard, who's opened his mouth to ask for the talking stick. "You don't get to hold it," he pre-empts. "I hold it. If you talk, I will hit you with it. Got that?"
Eyeing the baton warily, Howard nods. Oliver supresses a smile. Danny sighs. "Oliver, mate," he says, clapping him on the shoulder, "nobody here cares whether you're dating a man or a woman, and we're all thrilled that you've found someone you want to show off like this. All I'm saying is that your way of doing so could have been a bit more delicate, seeing as how this is affecting the way people see the whole team. And I know you understand that," he adds quickly, evidently seeing the look on Oliver's face. "And we all heard your apology and appreciate it. Right, guys?"
He lets a deathly glare sweep around the room, defying anyone to deny it. Nobody does. "Good," he says briskly. "Can we go play some Quidditch now?"
As they step out onto the pitch, Oliver grabs Danny's sleeve and holds him back. "Thanks," he says quietly.
The captain grins at him. "No worries," he says brightly. "And congratulations."