The Late Arrival

Chapter 5 - Quidditch Practice

Slowly walking behind Pansy, I looked up to see the flashes of crimson and emerald flying fast between multiple giant hoops - I'd never been into a Quidditch Stadium before, not even a small school one, I'd only ever seen it in magazines.

I sat down in one of the seats beside Pansy, watching as she waved at Draco every time he flew past and listening every time she would swoon over how cute he is. It was painful to watch because I don't even think he noticed she was there.

Gryffindor won. I walked over to congratulate Ron, Fred and George while Pansy fussed over Draco being a sore loser.

"You were amazing guys!" I shouted over as I walked up to them.

"We know!" The twins said in unison.

Me, Ron, Fred and George were talking for a while. They mentioned how they would never be able to win a quidditch match without their captain because of how organised he was, he had a plan for everything and held a meeting every Thursday morning before quidditch practice.

"Speak of the devil!" The twins said in unison again. It's really creepy how often it happens, the same tone of voice and everything. "Come meet Sayge!" One of them shouted, with a playful wink.

A tall brunette boy walked over, still in his quidditch robes and looking a bit worse for wear. He had patches of mud, covering most of his robes and a small bruise accompanied by a cut on his cheek - presumably gained during a foul caused by one of the Slytherins. His short brown hair was messy and wind swept, but despite all this he was very cute.

"Oliver Wood" he said with a thick, Scottish accent that didn't match his appearance. He put his hand out to shake mine.

I took his hand, shaking it a little before he took it up in front of his face, planting a small kiss on the back of mine. My cheeks were starting to burn as I watched him let go and rub the back of his neck awkwardly at the cooing noises the twins were making, clearly trying to wind him up.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sayge Snape" I smiled, trying hard to force back the fiery feeling in my cheeks.

"Ah, Professor Snapes Daughter I assume?" He tilted his head slightly as I cringed at his question.

He didn't ask much else about my Father after this, I presume he could tell it made me uncomfortable. We sat out on the quidditch pitch talking, long after the others left and the stars appeared.

Quidditch was obviously Oliver's whole life, I loved seeing the enthusiasm in his face as he spoke about it. I wish I had something that I was that passionate about.

"That's the Big Dipper!" I interrupted him half way through a sentence, pointing at the collection of stars beginning to make its way through a dark cloud. "Sorry" I said, getting a little embarrassed at how excited I sounded. "I love the stars.."

"Don't be, what do you like the most about them?" He asked. I wasn't sure if he was being sincere or just trying to sound interested, but I answered him anyway.

"Well, they're ancient. They've been there for a very long time and that just amazes me! I love the constellations too and their meanings. Like the Big Dipper, well it isn't a constellation.. it's an asterism, and-" I stopped myself. "I'm babbling aren't I?"

We just laughed at the fact I could go on forever about the stars, then we sat in silence for a few more minutes until I decided it was best we head off to bed. Oliver walked me back to my dorm.

"Goodnight Snape" he nodded.

"Goodnight Wood"

For the second night in a row, I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling lost in thought again. This time it wasn't about my worries of making new friends, meeting new teachers and started new classes. No, this time I was relaying mine and Oliver's conversation in my head - smiling every now and then when I remember the warm gleam in his eyes as he explained the different roles within quidditch and all his different tactics of what to do when the opposing team had the quaffle.

After a while of quietly talking to Dragon, who was curled up in the crevice between my shoulder and neck, about my day - I slowly drifted off to sleep.