Acquaintance - Oliver Wood/OC

Chapter 15: Uncomfortable Conversations

I went to bed fairly early last night. Early at least compared to everyone else. Which then caused me to wake up hours before everyone else. A good thing, I decided, as I had not spoken to Bianca since the dare, and she had not spoken to me. In fact she had even gone so far as to avoid me. I figured she thought I was angry with her, which I actually wasn't. I was as surprised by this fact as anyone else.

I had woken up after a good night's sleep by the sun shining directly on my face. I had got up to close them, longing to be outside in the cold and crispy morning sun.

And here I was, not finding it in myself to care enough to be upset. We had won our first game of the year last night, and my first game during the course of my captaincy. I wasn't going to spend the next day being angry with anyone, not even Oliver. Although I didn't have a reason to be angry with him I realised then, it was a funny feeling.

I got dressed as quick as I could so as to not risk having a conversation with one of my dorm mates should they wake up. Again, I wasn't angry with Bianca. But there was a conversation that needed to be had, one I'd rather put off for as long as I could.

So I did. I dressed warmly, something which I didn't do often. My body was usually pretty good at keeping warm, either that or I accepted the cold. But it was almost December and I wanted to be outside for as long as I could.

When I stepped out on the grounds after breakfast the sun had yet to catch all of the frost and the grass still glimmered beautifully. The frost combined with the lack of students on the grounds made everything quieter. It was a still day, void of so much as a breeze.

I walked alongside the Great Lake while making sure I avoided the Dementors. I didn't know how to cast a patronus charm and thought it best to avoid giving them any reason to bother me. I sat down and let the sun warm my face. I let myself smile for a while. To give myself a reason for staying outside in the nice weather I picked a book out of my bag and read for as long as I could until my fingers were aching from the cold.

Once I stepped inside the castle again I wanted to go sit by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to see if Graham would possibly pass by. But I thought it best to avoid my usual places at the risk of Bianca or the others passing by. I finally decided on settling for a secluded place in the library. Chances were neither of them wouldn't be in the right mind-set to go to the library today, and would instead spend most of the day in our dormitory and suffering the aftereffects of the party. Knowing them they probably wouldn't even bother to go into the common room.

There I sat for the remainder of the day, reading, studying and having a chat with a semi-acquaintance or two. When it was time for dinner I was starving. But instead of going down to The Great Hall I went down to the kitchens in a manoeuvre to further avoid my friends. I knew a decent house elf down there named Elly who would provide some food for me if I asked kindly. I then retrieved back to my bed for the day, making sure to close the curtains around my bed this time and I fell asleep shortly, having safely managed to avoid uncomfortable conversations.

That was until the next day.

On Monday I also woke up earlier than my friends. I always did, only in this instance I didn't bother waking them. Instead, I headed down for breakfast alone. When I entered the hall I walked straight toward the Slytherin table with a clear objective in mind. As luck would have it, Graham and his friends were already sitting there. I made people move so that I could slump down next to Graham. The table of food before me looked especially delicious after the lack of nutrition I had had the day prior, causing me to disregard my current mission until further notice. I hurled up food on my plate, ignoring the looks I got.

"Uh, Willow?" Graham asked as kindly as he could.

"Yes." I propped my mouth with food, the walk to The Great Hall had really set my digestive system in motion and I needed food now.