Acquaintance - Oliver Wood/OC

Chapter 14: A Celebratory Party

Wright took a bite of her apple. This annoyed the hinkypunks out of me. Wright never ate a single unhealthy thing. There we were, it was late and we'd been sitting in our dorm for I don't know how many hours, alternating between preparing for the game the next day and catching up on homework.

And Wright was eating an apple! While the rest of us were desperate for whatever sugar we could find. I'd been wolfing down Fizzing Whizzbees for hours, but she seemed immune to sweet temptations. She was always snacking on nuts or a tomato or whatever and it made me and the others feel like utter trash.

I threw the thought to the side, scaled it down to being about my stress about the match. In the last few days I'd barely left the pitch or common room. In the moment all I felt was worn down and stressed, but from experience I knew that in a few weeks I would look back at this time and find myself missing it. I would miss having a reason to always be in the air or hanging out close and intensely with my friends.

It was always a strange time, the week before a game. Being the captain especially brought with it some strange interactions. People I didn't know came up to me wishing me luck or giving me advice, the latter being mostly boys thinking they are somehow needed. Usually, I would humour them for a while as an inside joke with my friends, trying to make them feel like they had my attention and then I bring out the big guns, firing at them with Quidditch terms they didn't know of and plays they'd never even tried, that would usually shut them up. Sometimes I could keep a straight face through that part but usually I would laugh in their faces and they'd stalk of, to my solace, never to return.

"Alright guys. We should probably sleep now." I said. "A good night's sleep is probably the most important asset we can have tomorrow." Everyone agreed and I began gathering all the books and junk off the floor.

"Are you nervous Willow?" Bianca asked from her bed. She was reading the biography of Uric the Oddball, to which I smiled at. Bianca loved biographies for some reason.

"About the game? Not really. Maybe it'll kick-in tomorrow." I replied. Bianca still had that searching expression on her face, she seemed to expect my facial expression to tell her something my words wouldn't. But it was true. I wasn't really nervous. I couldn't say that I didn't want to win tomorrow, I did. If I didn't then I wouldn't have spent the last of my waking hours making sure I was fully prepared. — But nervous? No. Quidditch didn't make me nervous. If it had, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much.

I did have some feelings though, but nervous wasn't the right word for it, more like curious, about how Oliver would react to the results tomorrow. If Hufflepuff won, then rest in peace to our friendship/acquaintance/whatever. What had happened the last time we saw each other was still gnawing at my mind, but my friends had asked no further questions. My row with Oliver seemed to be the last thing they wanted to hear about at the moment, which I was more than happy about.

***

Saturday came as expected. To say that Saturday was expected would actually be an understatement of sorts. Walking into the Great Hall for breakfast at 8 a.m. –the only Saturday of few where I was actually in the Great Hall at this time– had me breathless. Around the entirety of Hufflepuff table were people dressed in yellow and black, they had banners placed by the table as well. I made a vow to myself to try and read every single one once up in the air before the game began.

I assumed that there were people dressed in scarlet and gold as well, but I couldn't tell you for a fact. All I saw right then was yellow and black.

I found it very odd. I'd been through this before, the hype of the supporters. But not like this, it felt personal, like they were my supporters primarily. Which sounds conceited, I know. But I didn't care. Today was my day no matter the results of the match. Also, I was telling the truth when I said I was going to work on my ego.