One. Last. Time. {Oliver Wood}

Mint chocolate chip ice cream

March 17, 1991

"So then, he goes, do you know if she's seeing anyone?" Valerie said in between laughs. Angelica, on the other hand, was not laughing.

"Wait. You think he fancies me?" Angelica asked curiously.

Valerie stopped laughing abruptly. She was utterly bewildered that Angelica would be interested in Cedric Diggory when she fancied Ace. Valerie thought she did...

"Er, yeah? I thought you fancied Ace?" Valerie asked.

"I never said that did I?" Angelica replied indignantly.

Valerie stared back at her in shock, "You don't fancy Ace?!"

Angelica became flustered and started wringing her hands, "A part of me does, but Ace is just- Ace. He's dorky and all clueless, and he's two years older than me, AND he's our best friend! If we broke up, the trio would be done. Is that really what you want?" Angelica finished.

"Are you kidding me?! You-you don't actually want to date Ace?!" Valerie was so, so confused.

"No, I don't want to date Ace. Diggory though, I'll date him, he is gorgeous." Angelica winked.

"You're crazy! Absolutely crazy, you hear me! I see the way you look at Ace! You cannot throw your feelings away like this!" Valerie shouted at her.

Angelica looked infuriated when she heard these words come out of Valerie's lips, "I'm crazy?! I'm crazy?!! Don't you pull that crap with me, Valerie Santos! I can date whoever the hell I want!" she screamed. She then muttered something nasty under her breath.

"What was that?" Valerie yelled, Angelica didn't answer, "What did you just say about me?!" she shrieked.

"I said, you shouldn't be talking! You've been pining over someone for five months! Five. Months! And just now does he decide to get his life together and ask you out. And you jump to say yes! It's pathetic!" Immediately after Angelica said this, she regretted it. Valerie noticed by the way her flushed face turned pale. "Val, I'm sor-"

"No," Valerie said in a solemn and clearly taken aback voice, "You're right, maybe my relationship with Oliver is pathetic, but at least I have the heart to date the person I genuinely want to be with." Valerie shot up out of her bed and walked out of their dorm, slamming the door closed behind her.

Valerie ran into Ace's room, out of reflex, and found him reading a muggle book on his bed. "Hey Val." He noticed the tears that were slowly falling down her face and he bolted out of his bed and pulled her into a hug. Valerie sobbed and sobbed into her best friend's shoulder for the rest of the night. Angelica and Valerie had never fought like that. Ever.

***

April 6, 1991

Over the next two weeks, Angelica had not tried to make things better between them. This only further enraged Valerie. As to why Angelica had chosen to be so petty, she didn't know, but she did know that if Angelica wanted to ruin the friendship that they had built, Valerie wouldn't try to stop it.

Valerie refused to acknowledge Angelica's presence and acted as though she wasn't even there. She didn't sit with Angelica in classes either. In Potions, Angelica had reached maximum level of petty and sat next to Cedric from then on. It enraged Valerie that she could toss away their friendship so simply.

A good thing in their row was that Valerie had taken to sitting at the Gryffindor table with Oliver. Another thing Valerie couldn't stand doing was spending mealtimes with her, so Angelica took refuge in sitting next to Ace and Valerie sat next to Oliver. She sat with him partly because she loved spending time with Oliver (and he loved it too), and partly as a stab to Angelica that their relationship was in fact, not pathetic.