Practice had finally happened with nobody hurting themselves too badly. Oliver saw that the team had a lot of work to do before the team was up to scratch. But at least they had made a start. They had their work cut out for them against the Slytherin team with their new fancy state of the art brooms. Lucius Malfoy had paid a pretty penny for his preening peacock of a son to be on the team. The Slytherins lacked heart. Oliver knew that with the right amount of work on their technique, the Gryffindor would be unstoppable. The speed of the broom didn't matter. It was the skill of the one flying it. Nothing could possibly go wrong now. Except Alicia withdrawing from the team. She was scared to get as horribly injured as Oliver had been at their practice. That was nothing. A minor injury, but he wasn't going to argue with her. He would just have to cut his losses. Not even Percy freaking out over his Prefect's badge having been transfigured into the likeness of a baboon's backside could lighten his mood. He had helped Fred and George get their hands on the badge, but he took no joy in it now. His days were soured by the worry of finding a new chaser who was as good as Alicia. His classes were going horribly. His mind was scattered. He wasn't paying enough attention in class. He was behind on homework. He was so stressed, that he'd taken to pulling at his hair. He looked unkempt and messy-haired at all times now.

He was storming into the library to attempt to tackle this mountain of homework, when he saw her and remembered. Valentine. She sat with her back to him, taking over a table with several books and scrolls spread out neatly around her. Her head of intricately plaited black hair was bent as she quickly scrawled something down. He was desperate for help. Maybe she could help. He took a step towards her, then remembered to flatten down his unruly hair. What was he meant to say to her? That his life was falling down around his ears, and he'd lost a week's worth of schoolwork? He quietly cursed Alicia Spinnett, before he put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She calmly looked up at him. She smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hey! Take a seat. Long-time no see. You look better." she whispered. He nodded and seated himself next to her. He highly doubted that he looked better. If anything he looked worse, but he appreciated her saying so.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." She frowned for a second. "I mean… You were poisoned last time I saw you. You seem better. Sorry." He put his bagful of books down quietly and started methodically taking out his homework, his shoulders hunching more with each book that came out. Couldn't he just play Quidditch all day? Please?

"Do you need any help?" she asked gently. When he looked up at her, he saw the concerned expression on her face. He closed his eyes and lay his head down on top of all his books.

"Yes." he said quietly, his voice heavily muffled. Under the table she passed him something wrapped up in a neatly folded napkin. He glanced her from the table, before he sat up and looked at the flapjack she'd handed him.

"You look like you need to eat something. Come on. Let's start with Transfiguration. That's the hardest one. Once that's out of the way, it'll get easier." He could have hugged her, if he were the hugging sort. She was a saint.

Valentine sat patiently with him, working through her own homework at the same time as him, lending him her notes from class when he needed them, and helping him puzzle things out when the questions got harder. The homework for the next three days was done in no time at all and he thought he was going to pass out with relief. Trying to concentrate on schoolwork was next to impossible. It seemed that having someone else there made him more diligent. He thanked her profusely, shaking her hand a few times, which made her snort back a laugh.

"Honestly, Wood. You'd swear I'd saved your granny's life the way you're carrying on. It was only homework." But he didn't stop his thanks no matter what she said. "Come on. We're going to miss dinner if you keep this up." She quickly set about packing up her things.

"Is it really that early? I thought I'd missed dinner. How did we get that much work done?" He was completely nonplussed. Did she have a timeturner that he didn't know about?

"Sitting down and just doing the work is half the battle." she whispered as they left the library together. Oliver honestly felt like someone had lifted a tonne of bricks off his shoulders. "I go every day so I make myself sit down and actually do the work. Everybody knows that's where to find me if they want me." It was nice to hear a different accent in this school. And she spoke sense. If only he had someone as hardworking as her on his team.

"You work so hard. It's no wonder you're top of the class." He hadn't meant to say it, but it was the truth at least. She grinned, looked chuffed. He was happy he could make her smile.

"Percy hates me for it. He's got some smarts so he thinks he deserves everything. The ponce." She rolled her eyes, and Oliver couldn't help but laugh.

"Does the entirety of Gryffindor hate the boy?" Valentine shrugged and laughed with him. They entered the Great Hall together laughing, and made their way to the Gryffindor table.

"I don't understand how he had a girlfriend in any house? He's an insufferable, preening co- HEY PERCY! How are you!" She had to switch to a peppy, cheerful voice halfway through her sentence, and it was all Oliver could do to not laugh. He was hard-pressed to even keep a straight face.

"Aquila. Jolly good work in charms today. I commend you on your abilities." Percy said, in his most pompous voice. Valentine dipped her head and moved down the table.

"Thank you Percy." She sat in an empty gap and Oliver sat next to her, not even thinking to seek out his friends. "Holy mothers…" she said quietly, before laughing at herself.

"I don't know how he can be so different from his brothers." Oliver said, shaking his head and staring down the table at Percy, who held a newspaper aloft and read it with his glasses halfway down his nose.

"You know his brothers?" Oliver looked back at her, struck not for the first time at how pretty she was. She had a friendly glint in her eyes, and a happy look on her face. But what really caught him was that spark of intelligence. His eyes darted away for a second.

"Yeah. I play Quidditch with Fred and George. Actually…" He thought he might as well chance his arm here. "The team is having tryouts on Saturday. You should come along. Someone as hardworking as you would be a valuable teammate." She was considering him with her big blue eyes, thinking.

"I don't know if I'd be much good at it. When I've played with my cousins they only ever let me be chaser." He smiled at her.

"Perfect. We need a chaser."

"OI! WOOD!" He looked up. George was calling him over. He glanced back at Valentine. She gave him a smile.

"You should get that. It might keep making noise otherwise." He smirked.

"I'll see you on Saturday for tryouts." He darted away before she could say no.