Chapter 3B- POV Cas

First Quidditch match of the season. Yay.

"Come on Cas, I gotta get to my seat- my fans need me!" This is Lee Jordan, my friend from Gryffindor. He's got a death grip on my wrist, and he's dragging me up through the stands past people to get to this little area with the score keeping equiptment. Apparently there's also a megaphone or microphone or something so that Lee can commentate.

I'm not a sports person. I don't play sports, I don't watch sports, I don't understand sports. I tried to explain this to Fred, George, Jo, and Lee, but none of them would see reason. So here I am, being dragged up through the stadium. Fred is a couple of steps behind me and Lee- he keeps looking out to the pitch to find George, but Oliver's the only one flying around.

I like Oliver. Not the way Jo likes him, but I like his style. Our first encounter was...interesting. I knew where to find him- the pitch. Quidditch hadn't even technically started, but he's always there. I went out one afternoon, watched him from the tunnel for like an hour, and caught him on the way out.

"Oliver Wood," I said as he was walking towards me. He was taller than I expected, and sweaty. I kept a bit of distance after this realization.

"Do I know you, girlie?" This was not okay. I straightened myself as best I could, trying to look taller and older.

"Look- I'm not here to play games. I need a favor." I thought he'd be impressed. Instead, he laughed. I don't know why everyone laughs.

"A favor? How 'bout I get your name first, since you already know mine." He had an amused smile. It wasn't the response I wanted, but he seemed to take the idea of helping me seriously enough.

"I'm Cassidy. Cas. I know Jolene, the Gryffindor you're gonna coach."

"Cas? I do know you-" he starts laughing again, "you're the one the little ferret used as bludger bait. Oh, girlie, you probably shouldn't try flying again. Valiant effort, but it's not for you." He's having fun.

"Look, Wood- I didn't want to do that in the first place, and I'm not here to talk about that. I want you to come to Jo's birthday party. And don't call me girlie. I'm Cas. Not Cassidy. Not girlie. Cas."

Obviously, he took me seriously enough, and the rest was history. That was the best part of the party. The worst was Tonks. Twinkle. I shudder just thinking about it. Fred plops down next to me and pulls me out of my musings. He's basically in my lap, leaning over to talk to Lee. I try to offer to switch spots with one of them, but neither is listening. So I sit there and hear the story of the Slytherin tryouts, how Fred got on as beater, and all that. I've already heard the story like five times. I basically have it memorized.

The story gets cut short when Lee leaps to his feet and starts shouting into a microphone the names of all the Gryffindor players as they mount their brooms and take the pitch. I don't know how he got the job as commentator- he's brilliant at it, sure, but he's so biased it hurts. That becomes clear as the match kicks off. He's basically a cheerleader for Gryffindor and a heckler to Hufflepuff.

But I don't focus on him- I'm to busy looking for Jo. I don't know how she'll play- she was devestated when Wood made her a chaser, and that kinda makes her a wild card. Apparently she's got it out for the guy who took the beater spot- some third year. I'm looking out for both of them. There's a very good chance this match could get interesting. Well, my kind of interesting.

It starts out tame enough- Jo and George, being second years, aren't even put on in the beginning. It's a normal match as far as I can tell- both teams are scoring, although Oliver is doing insanely well as keeper, no one's been hurt bad enough to leave the match, and the snitch has yet to be closed in on.

After about an hour, Gryffindor is up. Like, way up. So they make substitutions. Jo and George and some others go in, and Fred and I sit up, suddenly full of excitement and expectation. George, armed with his bat, doesn't look fierce, per say, but pretty close for a second year. Wild. Ready for action. Jo on the other hand, she's full out intimidating. I'm far off, but I can still see that look on her face. The one that says she means business. She whips into play and immediately assumes the position of a chaser, and I'll admit, I'm slightly dissapointed. I expected a power play out of her. A little more fight. I wouldn't mind seeing a look of shock on Oliver's face, even if I'm not the one who put it there.

But the good little chaser does her job- does it well. Really well. Within a half hour she's scored once and had a handful of assists. I'm impressed. George is doing well too- his bat's already seen plenty of action. Lee's having a field day "commentating" on his friends's playing. McGonigal actually had to step in at one point to tell him to knock off being biased. His cooperation lasted all of ten seconds, ending abruptly when George saved Angelina from an incoming bludger.

But not everyone of Gryffindor was doing so well. Another beater, who I quickly realize is the one that took Jo's spot, is scaring everyone. He's strong, it's plain to see, but he's doing more harm to his team than good. Armed with his bat, this kid is going out of his way to hit the bludgers- no plan, no sense of strategy, just batting practice. Clumsily flying around, he chases the bludgers and knocks them every which way. Jo, strangely enough, isn't eyeing him. She just does her job. What an unusually good little soldier.

Wood is trying to yell at him to stop, but to no avail. That coupled with the fact that Hufflepuff is on the offensive, the kid is left to his own devices. I see what's coming next a mile away. I jump to my feet as I see him hit a bludger, which bounces off the bat and speeds right at Jo. I shout her name, but whether or not she heard me, she saw it coming too. She jerks her broom into a sort of spin and hits the bludger with the back end of the broom, sending it away from the majority of the players. Lee shouts his praise into the mic as Wood gets control of the quaffle and clears it to Jo, who follows up her close shave with her second goal.

The match finishes about a half hour later, with Gryffindor winning by a landslide. Lee's ecstatic by the end, high fiving Fred, hugging me, and going so far as to shout his excitement at McGonigal, who tried her hide her amusement, but wasn't quite successful. Lee, Fred, and I made our way down to see Jo. When we finally found her, changed out of her Quidditch robes, she looked pleased with herself. I told her she did well and she nodded her thanks, a big grin on her face. George was in full celebratory mode, jumping around and running his mouth to no end. As much as I normally hate these kinds of moments, it was kinda nice.

Oliver came out behind Jo and George, patting them on the shoulders. He leaned over and whispered something to Jo, and she went bright red. He straightened back up and we made eye contact.

"Cas," he said.

"Wood. Never got to thank you for coming to the party. You were a huge hit." I say, grinning slyly as Jo turns all the more red. Oliver throws his head back and laughs, walking away. The rest of us make our way to our hang out to celebrate.

AN-

Hello, sweeties. Me again. Hope you liked the chapter. Sorry for the crazy upload schedule, or rather, lack of uploads. It's been crazy with SATs, college apps, and all that jazz. Doesn't mean I've forgotton about you or Cas and Jo. Sadly, the crazy isn't over yet. I'll do my best to keep you up to date going forward. The fun is only just beginning, I promise.

Yours- the cowriter