Edge of Reality // Oliver Wood

✧˖* Epilogue *˖✧

It's funny how people say you only live once when you can live a thousand lives in a myriad of realities.

✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*

I knew the day would come eventually, but I thought I'd be ready for it.

Oliver's heavy cough awakens me from my already light slumber. I softly rub his back, hoping the gentle massaging provides any bit of comfort, but his gasps for air and wheezing breaths continue.

He still pretends nothing is wrong. He hides his suffering from me, trying not to cough his lungs out for as long as he can because he knows what will happen the minute he accepts his fate. I know better though. I know he's ill.

With a lot of effort, he lifts his arm to my cheek and places his hand on my now wrinkly skin. I lean in, not putting too much pressure onto him. He doesn't have the strength for that anymore. I take his rough hand in mine, slowly guide it back down next to him and hold on to it tightly as if doing that is going to keep him here with me forever.

I study the face of the man I have loved all these years and realise how he looks so different yet exactly the same. His forehead is crumpled like old parchment and his cheeks hang lower on his face, giving in to gravity. However, one thing never changed. He still has the same bright hazel eyes with tiny golden spots speckled across his irises. The same ones I looked into that first day on the Quidditch pitch.

I close my eyes and suddenly we're teenagers again, flying through the air on our brooms. I can still recall his face being as bright as his uniform when I threw the Quaffle through the hoop behind him.

When I open my eyes, I see the remnants of our wonderful adventures detectable in every line and crevice on his skin. We planned these big things for when I would finally graduate. We would travel the world, magical and non-magical, on our brooms with only a tent and some food in our backpacks.

But after Oliver finished school, he immediately got picked up by Puddlemere United to play as a Keeper for their team. That was his ultimate dream, his main goal. So, I encouraged him to go all in. After his big win at the Quidditch World Cup in '99, he got even busier, so we decided to put our plans of travels and wander on hold.

After Madam Hooch's retirement, I took her spot as Hogwarts' flying teacher. Seeing my students take flight on their Shooting Stars for the very first time, brought me such fulfilment and I knew I found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Normally, athletes decide to quit competing at a fairly young age but, of course, Oliver beat the odds and kept playing Quidditch until he was 38. After that, I took a year off as a teacher to do what we had planned all along.

We went to America and saw a few games of Quodpot, their version of Quidditch only with the addition of explosives. When I learned about the sport, I immediately sent an owl to Fred and George telling them all about it. I don't think they ever played a normal game of Quidditch after that.

We also travelled to the topmost point of the volcanic island of Minami Iwo Jimi, where the Japanese wizarding school, Mahoutokoro, is located. There, Oliver decided he wanted to become a Quidditch coach after seeing their interesting and intense approach at training.

In the evenings, cuddled up together in our tent, I would show him Muggle films. Including, The Titanic. "Hey, they stole that from us!" He had said at the scene where Jack drew Rose, which resulted in me crying with laughter for twenty whole minutes.

It was impossible to see everything, but we were content and decided to return home where I picked up my position at Hogwarts again and Oliver continued to be a training coach for his old team.