Serendipity: An Oliver Wood Fanfiction

Chapter 9

The wind whipped her cold, icy face, tossing her hair around as she ran down the pavement, as she threw her everything into her steps. She couldn't stop even if she tried, she couldn't stop moving, stop running.

Tears slid across her cheeks, falling behind her to land onto the frozen ground, it was a surprise to her that she hadn't slipped yet. She kept closing her eyes, trying to lessen the burning sensation, but she had to see where she was going.

She struggled to stay upright as she wiped at her nose, her eyes, her cheeks. Every inch of her face was soaked in salty tears, but they weren't enough. They could never properly convey her pain, her sorrow. How deeply wounded she was.

Their faces were burned into her mind, and she wondered if she'd ever be free of the image. How they'd all been there, waiting. Even her brothers, whom she hadn't seen in years. Her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as she pummelled forward, the wind screaming into her ears.

She was freezing, she'd left her coat in the house. The mark on her arm burned as she pressed forwards, trying to ignore the thoughts that came bubbling to the surface of her mind, the memories. She gripped her arm, right where her mother had grabbed her and pulled her roughly into the living room. Where they waited.

She'd been wrong to think she could face them. She'd been wrong to think the worst they could do was take Quidditch from her. If there weren't houses beside her she would have screamed her lungs out. She would have screamed and screamed until the cold froze her tongue over and she could speak no longer.

She prayed as she ran, prayed that her parents would not go after her, would not send someone to fetch her. She prayed that they'd decided not to check her room to see if she was there, that they hadn't seen her run across the snow coated lawn towards the freedom outside that wretched house.

Perhaps if she kept running, they'd never find her. Perhaps if she ran forever.

Alhena came to a halt, finally. Something had grabbed her attention and fear tugged at her as she peered through those gates, up into the dark manor. This was Oliver's house. How long had she been running?

There was movement in a window on the second storey, and Alhena ducked away from sight at it. If Oliver's parents came out, she was in serious trouble. Still, she leaned around the corner, checking for danger.

She had wanted to come by here. It was the first place that popped into her mind as she leapt from her window. Though she had no idea why.

"What are you doing?"

Alhena's almost screamed at the figure that appeared behind the gate. "You shouldn't be here." Oliver snuck through a small space between the two gates, stepping out of view from the house. His eyes widened for a moment as he noticed the state she was in.

She was in her dress from the party, still. She was bare footed, and her hair was a tangled mess. Her face had dried, but tears still welled in her eyes as she stared at him.

He had a yellow and purple bruise forming below his eyes, and a small cut on his lip. "You-" Alhena stared at him. "I didn't know where else to go." Her voice cracked, and before Oliver knew what he was doing, he had pulled her into his embrace.

She broke down into his arm, crying into his thin shirt as he stroked her hair, allowing her to hold herself up by grabbing onto his shirt. He noticed how she trembled in his arms, and quickly took his jacket off, urging her to put it on.

She didn't object as he put it into her hands, she simply pulled away, tugging it on. Sniffling, and still shaking. She wiped her face with her hands, trying to get rid of her tears as he watched her. "He hit you?" She looked up at him, and he nodded. "You're off the team?"