I sighed as I sat at the Hufflepuff table, completely ignoring what Siren was talking about. Penny, Willow, and Susan were nodding along animatedly, along with some sixth year who Siren knew from the… oh, I don't remember. I just fail as a Ravenclaw.

It's… awkward when I have to sit at the Ravenclaw table. Everyone looks at me like a freak because I just broke up with Ben Elliot, sex-god extraordinaire with a brain… and I honestly don't care. Yeah, I don't like to sit next to him, and yeah, I don't really look at him. But I'm not actually… sad. I just kind of don't want to be near him.

What I want is to go sit with Wood, but that is out of the question in every way. I… no. No. Never. Not until… ten years out of Hogwarts. Then it looks like we met on the… something and got together without any connection to the time we spent at Hogwarts. I'll act surprised when he tells me he's the flying teacher.

Oh God, my stomach squelched at the idea of being with him in ten years. I love him, sure. And he doesn't know, which so far is working out just fine, but ten years? That's… more than half the time I've been alive! I feel sick. Intensely.

"Aly, did you hear that," Siren asked, her eyebrows lost somewhere under her bangs. Oh, shit, I thought to myself, realizing that while I was simultaneously fantasizing and getting sick about Wood, everyone started to look at me. Something is… centered around me; I'm supposed to be reacting.

"Run that by me again," I covered, running a hand quickly through my hair. Good thing none of my friends know that's my nervous-habit, which would of course mean I'm lying. No, they all turned simultaneously to Siren with wide eyes.

"The guy I've been… nearly getting with all year," she paused, her jaw dropping a little and nodding along, like that somehow made it easier for me to understand. I'm the Ravenclaw; you're the Hufflepuff. The thought was cruel, but I have a thing about being treated like I'm four years old. "Is Tom."

My eyes widened, my mind spinning around the name like… like I didn't know it, or something. Like there was more than one Tom that it could possibly be. Like she wasn't talking about my psycho ex-boyfriend. Like, like…

"What?!" Know I understand why they all thought I was going to react! Because I'm going to freak out a little! I mean, my God, I dated him for two years! And… and… he's a psycho! I know! H…

He wants to get me back.

I felt my body physically deflate, the breath being forced out of my body by the realization. He… he knows how protective I am of her; he knows it will kill me to know he's using here. He knows I-

"Did something happen?" Oh God, did he get her pregnant? Is he planning on getting her pregnant? Oh Merlin, please, tell me he's not actually going to go through with this. He… he wouldn't go that low. I wouldn't date anyone who is that low.

"No, no, I just… think it finally will, and I wanted you guys to find out from me and not… someone else." Oh, I'm going to be sick. I can actually feel the vomit forcing its way up my throat. It's… disgusting. I need help. My God, this isn't happening. My brain isn't actually registering all this as happening. It's just… he wouldn't do this.

Maybe he really likes her, I figured, I mean, he might not have liked Siren very much when we were dating, but, well, he… he can change! He's not a stubborn ass – just a regular ass! He could very well like Siren.

As un-best-friend as this is, I knew I was lying to myself. Tom absolutely could not stand to be alone with Siren, and now he's head over heels for her? No, no, he knows how protective I am about her, how intent I am that she doesn't have the same problems I had with any guy. And now he's just making me sit and watch, cause he probably knows I never told her about his threat.

"I…" I smiled reflexively, and Siren squealed and dove across the table, knocking over an empty pitcher of pumpkin juice that luckily had yet to be refilled.

"Oh, Aly, thank you! I like him so much! I know you and him have a history, but I just… ohmyGOD!" My eyes bulged as Siren continued to cry into my ear, leaving me no time to talk.

I sighed, biting my lip. Maybe it would be better this way – maybe if he sees I'm not affected, he'll either realize he actually likes her, which is a plus, or he'll break up with her and I can deal with the heart break all the faster. We can both get over it and I can breathe easy, or even actually breathe, knowing that it would all be alright.

This so-called 'breathing' was sporadic as I paced around Oliver's office later that night. I just… I couldn't stay still, and I knew that whenever I decided to go back to my Common Room that there would be Siren and Tom, and I'd just… I'd kill him. I'd kill him for what he's doing to Siren, and what he's doing to my nerves. I'd kill him for the hell of it, at this point, just so I don't feel so paranoid. I guess that's still for my nerves, though.

Oliver was sitting at his desk, writing a letter or something. He's chewing on his quill, which is a little disgusting because I think he's getting pieces of feather in his mouth, but really I don't care. For all I know Siren is dead right now and Tom is laughing maniacally.

"How can you not care about any of this," I finally almost-screamed at my boyfriend, who looked up at me with that every popular 'huh' face that should belong only in cartoon shows.

"Not care about any of what?"

"That my boyfriend just killed my best friend!" I probably should have thought that one through a bit more.

Oliver was out of his seat and tripping over the cracks in the stone as he tried to get around the desk, "What did I do?!"

I flinched; really should have thought that one through, "My ex-boyfriend, and Siren. She thinks he's going to ask her to go steady!"

Oliver sighed as he finally slipped around the desk, leaning back onto it, "And how does that translate into murder?"

"He's doing it to get back at me!"

"What? Where in the world did you get that idea?"

"Uh, hello, he wants revenge on me for cheating on him!"

"Sometimes I want to be in your head and figure out just what goes on, but I'm honestly scared," Oliver replied, half-laughing.

I groaned, falling back onto the loveseat I'd come to know so well, "Nooo, God, you're supposed to know all this!"

Oliver laughed openly, "But I don't, so explain this to me."

I pouted, "I broke up with Tom over the summer and he told me at the beginning of the year that he was going to get me back and he's been raving about it all year and I've just been like, 'whatever' cause there have been so many other things going on and now he's dating Siren whom he hates cause he knows it's going to bother me!"

"Wh… Why does it bother you," Oliver questioned, his face contorted into an even more confused expression than I'd thought possible.

"Because he's using my best friend!"

"And how do you know this?"

"Because he hates her!"

"Then why is he going out with her?"

"TO GET BACK AT ME FOR CHEATING ON HIM!"

"Cheating on him? I thought you two just broke up."

"I cheated on him and then we broke up."

Oliver just shook his head, his hair spinning around like one of those big hoop skirts, "Should I just bloody him up for you cause you're really not being very clear on the actual situation."

I groaned, "As much as I would love to see you kill Tom, no."

"Then what am I supposed to be doing, here, cause I honestly… still have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well, you're supposed to… care, or distract me."

Oliver sighed as he leaned forward, letting his hands fall to his slightly bent knees as he looked at me, "I do care."

"Then how can you just sit there and… write a letter!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know you were having a crisis – you were just pacing! Your hands were nowhere near your hair and you didn't rampage in screaming and growling at me. You didn't ask for a bro-"

"Well, Professor, I've been trying to convince myself that it wasn't a problem."

Oliver's face hardened, "Aly, if you're going to be like this then just get ou-"

"I'm sorry," I sighed, actually genuinely apologizing. I know he's trying to help, but I'm just… on edge. As I started to confess my feelings to my boyfriend, he started towards the loveseat, finally collapsing on it next to me, "It's just… I know I should be happy for her in some twisted best friend way, but I can't shake the feeling that he doesn't really like her. I mean, he's never mentioned her during our meetings, he's never had her into the common room. I know Tom – when he likes a girl he can't shut up about her. Literally, whenever we were at Prefect meetings together we just had to talk over what he was saying about me. It was… embarrassing, in a sweet kind of way."

"Could it be he's, you know, changed a little?"

I wrinkled my nose up at my boyfriend, who had weaved his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest sometime during my rant. It was as I was running my hand through my hair that I finally responded, "I dislike that idea. I think it illogical."

Oliver laughed, "Suit yourself, but I think you ought to give Tom a chance. He very well could have… dealt with his issues and changed."

"You do realize you're talking about my ex, right?"

"He's changed in a way that is completely not for you. Better?"

I smiled up at him, ultimately a lot calmer then when I walked into the room, "Lots."

Smirking, Oliver placed what was probably supposed to be a single kiss on my lips, but very quickly turned into one very deep, intense kiss that felt like it was swallowing my soul and sucking my heart out of my chest through a straw.

Maybe I should tell him I love him right now; I mean, this intense of a kiss can't be one-sided, right? He's got to feel something, I'm sure. And even if he doesn't, he's polite enough to continue to date me for a little before dumping me and thinking I'm a freak little teenager, right?

It was luckily at that moment that my wand started to burn in my back pocket, and I breathed out a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. It's a horrifying concept, telling Oliver Wood that you love him. It's horrifying in general to love Oliver Wood.

I pulled away, swallowing my tongue back into its rightful place, "I, uh, I have to go." My voice was stereotypically breathy, and Oliver's breath puffed right back against my mouth. He tasted like he smelled – delicious. I couldn't get enough of it.

Oliver smiled, "I could write you a note." He leaned in again, and I flinched as my wand burned hotter.

I pushed away, using my hands on his chest and all my strength, "No, no, I need to catch Siren on her way out to see how it went."

Oliver sighed, his arm falling slowly from my waist as I stood up. When did his arm slip around my waist, anyway? Oh well, doesn't matter. I'm on a mission. I love being on a mission.