Raven (Fred x oc)

8. Cat and Mouse

My red Quidditch robes shifted gently in the wind as I stared out at the forest, deep in thought. The metal of my ring dinged against my wooden broom repeatedly as I thought again about that voice. "Val, you with us?" Angelina asked, nudging my shoulder. Flinching, I looked back to her.

"What? Yeah," I replied absentmindedly, turning back to face the team.

Glaring lightly at me, Wood resumed, "Now that we're all paying attention-"

"Oh come now," I interrupted with my signature smirk. "You love me, Wood."

"Whatever, Black," he replied with a small smile. Growing more focused, he resumed, "This is our last chance - my last chance - to win the Quidditch Cup. I'll be leaving at the end of this year. I'll never get another shot at it. Gryffindor hasn't won for seven years now. Okay, we've had the worst luck in the world - injuries - then the tournament getting called off last year..." Wood broke off, looking like a man having a flashback.

"But we also know we've got the best ruddy team in the school," Wood said passionately, looking around at us all proudly. "We've got three superb chasers." I smirked as he gestured to me, Angelina, and Katie. "We've got two two unbeatable chasers."

"Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," Fred and George said together, pretending to blush as I gave a wide smile.

"And we've got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!" Oliver finished. As an afterthought, he added, "And me."

"We think you're very good too, Oliver," George said.

"Spanking good Keeper," Fred added.

"I mean..." I drawled, smirking at Oliver with a teasing glint in my eye. His expression fell slightly. Chuckling, I said, "I'm kidding." Knocking his shoulder, I added, "Loosen up, Oliver. You know I'm just playing. We all have a niche here. Fred, George, and I lighten the mood you create." Wood managed a small chuckle as he rolled his eyes at me.

"The point is," Oliver continued, beginning to pace, "the Quidditch Cup should have had our name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry joined the team, I've thought the thing was in the bag. But we haven't got it, and this year's the last chance we'll get to finally see our name on the thing..."

While I had considered throwing in a joke about my mediocre Seeker performance, the look of defeat on Wood's face caused me to change what I was going to say to...

"Oliver, we'll get it," I promised, gripping his shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah, this year's our year," Fred agreed, backing me up.

"We'll do it, Oliver!" Angelina insisted.

"Defiantly," Harry agreed.

Looking determined, Oliver decided, "Practice three nights a week, okay? And no slacking, any of you. Fred, George, Val, ease up on the pranks you'll get caught for, all right?"

"Can't promise anything," Fred and George replied as I said, "Just a little bit, for your sake, Ollie." He sent us playful glares, but knew we'd try for his sake. A week or so into practice, we all returned to the common room to see that everything was a buzz of excitement.

"What's happened?" Harry asked, turning to Ron and Hermione in their seats by the fire.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," Ron explained. "End of October. Halloween."

"Excellent," Fred remarked, turning to me. "We need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of stink pellets."

"And we need to get some more of the fireworks," I added, sitting down in a couch next to him as we began to do homework.

"Anything for you, baby," he replied offhandedly, pulling out his books and come parchment.

"Ew, cue the vomit now," George interrupted, jumping over the couch to sit between us and begin his own work.

"Hi Georgie," I chuckled, not looking up from my essay. A few moments later, our quiet studying was interrupted by a shout from Ron.

"OY!" Ron roared as Hermione's cat Crookshanks lunged towards Ron's bag where I assume his rat Scabbers was hiding. "GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!"

"Ron, don't hurt him!" Hermione squealed as he tried to rip the bag away from the furry creature. Ron turned, whirling the bag around and causing the rat to fling out of the top.

"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron ordered as said cat jumped from the bag, ran over the table the twins and I had been using, and bolted for the rat. George lunged for Crookshanks, but he was unsuccessful. The rat ran and hid under a chest a drawers. Soon Crookshanks was right in front of it, pawing at the space below it. Hermione and Ron snatched up their pets as Fred and I got up to see the action.

"Look at him!" Ron screamed, glaring at Hermione. "He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!"

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione defended. "All cats chase rats, Ron!"

"There's something funny about that animal!" Ron accused. "It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"

"Oh, what rubbish," Hermione scoffed. "Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else do you think-"

"That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" Ron accused wildly.

Several of the people around began to giggle as I mutter to Fred, "He's actually serious, isn't he?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed, sounding half sympathetic and half amused at his brother's antics.

"And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!" Ron shouted before storming away. I sighed, sitting back down with my schoolwork. I tried to force myself to work for ten minutes before Fred grabbed my quill from my hand, giving me a knowing look as he set it aside.

"Go, I know you can't help it," he said with a knowing smirk. "You'll drive me crazy with your beautiful brain whirling like that."

Smirking, I stood and replied, "I'll be back." Hermione had rushed up to her dorm soon after Ron disappeared. Harry was staring up the stairs looking like he wanted to talk to her, but couldn't because of the enchanted stairs. "I got it," I told him, beginning to head towards them.

"Wait, Valerie," he called, causing me to turn back. After a pause, he asked, "Why are you being so kind to me? To us all? I told you I wished you were rotting in a cell in Azkaban. Why don't you hate me?"

"I don't know," I admitted with a frown. "I guess I just realized that you're a kid and so am I. You made a stupid, stupid ignorant comment. And you recognized that, so I don't have a reason to hate you anymore." When he didn't say anything, I said, "I should go find Hermione."

"Right," he replied quickly as I turned, shot him a quick smile, and headed up the stairs.